Saturday Night Live UK welcomed another familiar face from the show’s U.S. mothership this weekend, with Jimmy Fallon making not one—but three separate appearances on the sketch show’s latest episode.
Fallon first popped up during host Nicola Coughlan’s opening monologue, appearing as himself to give the first-time host a crash course in what makes SNL unique.
“That’s why I’m here, Nicola—to teach you the biggest secret of SNL that no one wants you to know,” Fallon told her. “It’s live.”
When Coughlan pointed out that the show’s title makes that fairly obvious, Fallon doubled down, leading her offstage and through the studio to demonstrate the freedom that comes with live television.
“We don’t have to stay on this stage,” he explained. “We can go into the audience.”
The pair then roamed through the studio audience, with Fallon mistakenly identifying an audience member as Paul McCartney (“Every American thinks everyone from England’s in The Beatles”), before encouraging Coughlan to embrace the chaos of live TV. The bit eventually culminated with Coughlan asking musical guest Dave Grohl to be her best friend—prompting him to agree on the spot.
He returned in a pre-taped sketch imagining Coughlan pitching a song for her new film. In the segment, Fallon played a caterer who becomes Coughlan’s love interest.
Fallon completed his trifecta during “Weekend Update,” joining anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young for a new installment of their “Hand in Hand” segment—this time dubbed “Hand in Hand in Hand.”
Introducing Fallon as “our American friend and ‘Weekend Update’ legend,” Magliano framed the segment as an effort to repair the increasingly strained “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K.
“We saw you from across the bar, and we really dig your vibe,” she told Fallon.
Young was a bit more blunt about the trio’s motivations, quipping: “We are just two hosts sat next to a more famous host, asking him to boost our ratings.”
“That’s me,” Fallon replied.
The segment leaned heavily into U.S.-U.K. cultural differences, with Magliano joking, “We gave you Harry Styles.”
“Yeah,” Fallon shot back, “we took your Harry Styles and made Benson Boone. Our one flips.”
Later, the trio compared differences in British and American terminology before taking the bit in a darker direction with jokes about Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to both countries.
The segment ended with Magliano declaring April 25 “Codependence Day” for both nations.
“Take that, World Malaria Day,” said Young. “Yes—suck it, malaria,” Fallon added.
Fallon’s three appearances mark the second time an SNL veteran has appeared on the show’s UK edition after Fallon’s former “Weekend Update” co-anchor Tina Fey hosted the series premiere earlier this season. Like its U.S. counterpart, SNL UK is produced by Lorne Michaels.
Fallon, of course, hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which is also executive produced by Michaels. Before taking over NBC’s flagship late-night franchise, he spent six seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998 to 2004.
Since leaving the cast, Fallon has returned to Studio 8H frequently. In addition to hosting SNL three times, he has made 17 cameo appearances on the U.S. version of the show.
This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live UK is set to begin streaming on Peacock Sunday.
