Cynthia Erivo hosted the season two finale of SNL UK at London's Television Centre on October 24, 2026, broadcast on Sky and NOW with musical guest Blossoms.

The show-stealing moment, per The Hollywood Reporter and WhatsOnStage, was a sketch called "Nigerian Wicked," styled as a Nollywood film trailer from the fictional Holy Ghost Productions.

The surprise is the reversal itself: the woman who spent two years promoting Wicked as Elphaba — and who, That Grape Juice notes, had declared herself ready to move beyond the role — chose to play Ariana Grande's Glinda instead, and let a comedian take her part.

The Hollywood Reporter's set visit describes melodramatic narration ("Glinda doesn't like egg, so their relationship is very strained"), shoddy visual effects, and a finale in which Erivo's credits roll under her full name: Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Owezuke Amarachukwu Echimino Erivo.

The sketch itself is the story: Glinda slaps Elphaba for being "very classless," the pair nearly kiss, Glinda demands a Hermes Birkin while Elphaba asks for a "skinny BBL that defies gravity," and the broke Wizard turns up with a "Nolex" instead of a Rolex, prompting Erivo's disgusted "That's a nolex!"

The clip's reach is measurable: The Hollywood Reporter reports the "Nigerian Wicked" YouTube clip passed one million views in less than 24 hours, evidence the social team knew exactly where this show's audience lives in the content economy.

Indy100 reports viewers wasted no time hailing the sketch as the "funniest thing" they'd seen, with fans calling for Erivo to join the cast permanently.

The outlet quotes one viewer claiming "SNL UK is miiiiiiles ahead of SNL US in terms of comedy, acting, memorizing the fucking scripts, and originality," and another calling it potentially the best SNL UK episode yet.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Erivo's opening monologue also landed — she joked her famous nails are "an extension of my body, an expression of my soul, and surprisingly practical. I haven't had to use cutlery in years."

The Hollywood Reporter frames the finale against the question skeptics keep asking: can this very American format make Brits laugh?

Its answer is yes — the cast leans into a deliberately specific British sensibility, from Noel Fielding's Bake Off posture to a Walthamstow wedding crashed by a rapper feuding with Thames Water.

The outlet reports Weekend Update presenters Ania Magliano and Paddy Young scored sold-out Edinburgh Fringe runs in August, and high-profile audience members at the finale included Ike Barinholtz, Lizzy Caplan, Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg.

The Hollywood Reporter reports SNL UK season three is slated for release in January, and concludes that with a show this slick and a cast so obviously at home, the series "might just have finally found its groove."

Behind the scenes, the outlet describes a behemoth operation: 30-40 sketches read through each week, cut to six or seven by Saturday's 6 p.m. dress rehearsal, in front of a 275-seat audience.

As for Erivo, That Grape Juice notes she has kept the door to Oz open, reuniting with Ariana Grande onstage in London in August.