Saturday Night Live Announces Hosts and Musical Guests for First 2023 Shows

By Nathaniel Brail

Saturday Night Live! is getting ready to launch the Spring 2023 half of the 48th season of the hit variety series, and it's going to be very different from previous seasons. One thing that will remain the same is the weekly hosts and musical guests making an appearance. SNL Season 48 has finally announced their first round of hosts and musical guests for the upcoming second half of the season. The official Twitter account for the series revealed that on January 21st Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus, Agatha: Coven of Chaos) is set to be the host of the series, with Sam Smith serving as the musical guest. Then on January 28th, Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Creed III)  is set to serve as the host while Lil Baby will be the musical guest. You can check out the official announcement on Twitter below!

Ceicily Strong announced her exit during SNL's Winter 2022 finale and things at the series will look very different in the upcoming new season. Starting with SNL back in 2012 as a featured player, Strong was promoted to a regular cast member in 2013 alongside Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon, and has been one ever since. She became best known for her impressions on the series, regularly lampooning political figures including Dianne Feinstein, Jeanine Pirro, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Tulsi Gabbard. Weekend Update was also a regular placement for Strong in the series as well.

Strong previously missed the first few episodes of the current season while performing in her one woman show. Fans were unsure before if she had left the show without mentioning it when she was absent from the opening credits of those episodes, but she eventually returned. Her sudden exit now has thrown many for a loop however.

Ahead of the season 47 finale back in May there was confirmation from multiple cast members, including Kyle Mooney,  Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kate McKinnon, would be departing the show. In the months following though even more walked away including Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari, Alex Moffat, and Chris Redd. Strong's exit from Saturday Night Live marks the latest departure, and one that has come as a shock to fans since it's in the middle of the new season.

What do you think about the new hosts and guests for the new season? Are you excited to see season 48 of Saturday Night Live? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

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