“Saturday Night Live U.K.” has announced that British comedian Jack Whitehall will be the host for the show on April 11, with R&B artist Jorja Smith appearing as the musical guest.
Whitehall is recognized for his role as a panelist on the comedy game show “A League of Their Own” and for his Netflix docuseries “Travels With My Father.” Jorja Smith, who released her second album, “Falling or Flying,” in 2023, is also set to headline London’s All Points East Festival with Tems in August.
The series will feature eight episodes and will take a weeklong break before resuming on April 25.
The debut season of this British adaptation of the U.S. comedy classic began on March 21 with Tina Fey hosting and Wet Leg as the musical guest. The following show featured Jamie Dornan with Wolf Alice, and Riz Ahmed is slated for April 4 with Kasabian. Prior to its launch, Sky expanded the first season of “SNL U.K.” from six to eight episodes.
The initial episode of “SNL U.K.” garnered strong ratings for Sky and was met with mostly positive reviews. However, the second episode, hosted by Dornan, saw a slight decline in viewership. Writing for Variety, Scott Bryan noted that the show excels by embracing the unique elements of British comedy.
“Thankfully, ‘Saturday Night Live U.K.’ largely took the basics of what makes the U.S. version successful — sketch comedy, rotating guest hosts and the unpredictability of live television — and left the Brits to it. That’s where it works,” Bryan wrote. “The sketches are darker and more surreal than its U.S. counterpart, the comedy much more deadpan. Even if all the sketch itself doesn’t work (hey, they kept that feature too) there’s enough one-liners to keep you going and try out the next.”
