Saturday Night Live UK launch date confirmed – here’s the 11 comedians starring

The launch date and inaugural cast members of the long-awaited UK version of Saturday Night Live have been confirmed, with queer talent set to take centre stage.

Saturday Night Live will arrive in the UK on Sky from 21 March for a six-episode run, with 11 comedians making up the sketch show’s cast.

Gay comedian Larry Dean and bisexual performer Ania Magliano are among the 11 comics set to bring the historic late night series to the UK for the very first time.

Dean and Magliano will be joined in the cast by Black Ops actor Hammed Animashaun, 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Ayoade Bamgboye, The Windsors actress Celeste Dring, theatre performer George Fouracres, Six the Musical actress Annabel Marlow, social media sensation Al Nash, Big Boys actor Jack Shep, Taskmaster’s Emma Sidi and Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping actor Paddy Young. 

The group will be helming SNL’s signature brand of fast-paced sketch comedy, which has been a mainstay of US TV for 50 years, and adapting it for a UK audience. Each episode will feature a guest host and a chart-topping musical performer, much like the US version. The show’s writers are yet to be announced.

Each episode will be broadcast live from London and will be available to watch on Sky and streaming service NOW.

Glaswegian comedian Larry Dean, who has performed at The Royal Variety Performance and on Live at the Apollo, said in a statement that he is pleased to be following in the footsteps of his comedy heroes, including Jim Carey and Mike Myers, who have appeared on SNL in the US.

“It’s always been my dream to do acting and stand-up, so this is exactly what I want to be doing,” he said. 

Buckinghamshire-born comedian Ania Magliano, who has also performed on Live at the Apollo, added that she was drawn to the SNL UK gig as she loves to “work collaboratively with other amazing comedians”.

“And honestly, being part of SNL UK is just incredibly cool. SNL is a major comedy institution that I never expected to be a part of, so the idea that I get to go live on Saturday nights is mad – I can’t wait,” she said.

Hammed Animashaun said he wanted to be involved with the show as “it’s the prestige of Saturday Night Live, to be part of something so popular and historic is a privilege.”

He added: “I don’t think there’s another show like it that’s been running as long. It would’ve been weird to have said no!”

Ayoade Bamgboye said that “there’s no better training ground” than Saturday Night Live.

“I’m maybe three, four years into comedy, and it just feels like the perfect place to accelerate my learning. Having a steep learning curve like this gives me so much bandwidth to try many different things in a short space of time.”

Celeste Dring described the decision to join the show as “a no-brainer” adding that she loved “the idea of being creative with a group of brilliantly talented and funny people”.

George Fouracres described the gig as his “dream job” since his childhood. “Seeing clips of SNL in the US I always thought ‘I wish we had that. Why don’t we have something like that?’ So the fact that we do now, and I get to be part of it, blows my tiny mind.”

Annabel Marlow admitted that she used to have a social media fan account for SNL. “SNL combines everything I love. I’m excited to create characters and hopefully write some music as well,” she shared.

Al Nash said that he was lured into SNL UK for its potential. “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for the UK comedy industry in general. For it to be a new sketch format in the UK, but also one of the biggest sketch comedy formats in the world, it’s got so much potential,” he said.

Emma Sidi, a major fan of French & Saunders, The Fast Show, and Reeves and Mortimer, explained that she hopes Saturday Night Live UK will be “a huge opportunity to get that kind of comedy back on TV and online”.

Paddy Young agreed that Saturday Night Live coming to the UK “feels like the most exciting thing that’s happened in comedy in this country for a long time”.

“The scale of it is quackers: 11 in the cast, 18 writers, and the catering is world class.”

Watch the first episode of Saturday Night Live UK on 21 March on Sky and NOW.

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