The best of Ariana Grande's episode (Dec. 20, 2025)

Ariana Grande joined her “Wicked” co-star Bowen Yang for his final episode of “Saturday Night Live” on Dec. 20, with Cher as musical guest.

Musical guest Cher, host Ariana Grande, and cast member Bowen Yang ahead of the December 20, 2025 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

By Kevin Slane

December 21, 2025 | 9:02 AM

2 minutes to read

“SNL” always brings its A-game for its annual holiday episodes. This year was no different, with Ariana Grande returning to the show to send off her “Wicked: For Good” co-star Bowen Yang for his final episode after more than seven years on the show, alongside musical guest Cher.

Grande was hosting “SNL” for a third time, though it feels like way more than that. Last year alone, Grande both hosted (Oct. 12) and showed up as a musical guest (March 9). Putting the singer with the four-octave range alongside an original diva like Cher was a coup for the “SNL” producers, and a perfect billing for Yang’s final episode.

Not counting her performance at the “SNL50” anniversary special earlier this year, the last time Cher graced the stage at Studio 8H as a musical guest was all the way back in 1987, the same year “Moonstruck” was released.

Appropriately, this year’s holiday episode was Yang’s night from start to finish. The actor got to show off his vocal talents, especially in an emotional final sketch, and he got to bring back one of his favorite recurring “Weekend Update” bits, alongside former cast member Aidy Bryant.

Check out the videos below to see highlights from Ariana Grande’s episode of “SNL,” including Grande’s opening monologue, Cher’s musical performances, all of the characters visiting the “Weekend Update” desk, and Yang’s emotional final send-off in the last sketch of the night.