Top 10 Relationships That Started on SNL
#10: Ariana Grande & Pete Davidson
Pete and Ariana met when she appeared on SNL as a musical guest in 2014, and reconnected when she hosted the show two years later. However, at the time she was dating Mac Miller and he was dating Cazzie David, whom he also met at SNL. In 2018 both broke off their relationships, and it wasn’t long before their whirlwind romance dominated showbiz headlines. Shortly after, they announced their engagement, but by October it was all over. We guess that this relationship simply wasn’t meant to be. Still, there’s no denying that it inspired some pretty catchy music, and eventually Pete was able to joke about it too.
#9: Elisabeth Moss & Fred Armisen
This couple first met when Moss made a cameo in a “Mad Men” sketch alongside that week’s host, Jon Hamm. She and Armisen started dating soon after, quickly became engaged and tied the knot in a secret ceremony on the one-year anniversary of their first meeting. However, after only eight months of marriage, the pair split, and by September Moss filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences”. Later, Moss described the relationship as “extremely traumatic and awful and horrible” and Arminen conceded that he was a “terrible husband”. The pair went their separate ways and Armisen went on to date Abby Elliott, another SNL alum.
#8: Lindsay Shookus & Ben Affleck
As a member of the Five-Timers club, Affleck is no stranger to Studio 8H, which is where he supposedly first met SNL producer Lindsay Shookus. It’s unclear when the pair initially started dating, as the timeline coincides with his separation from Jennifer Garner and Shookus’ marriage to fellow SNL Producer, Kevin Miller. Still, the couple dated for almost a year and were often spotted out together. Reportedly, Affleck’s struggles with alcohol addiction contributed to their break-up. In 2019, they were spotted together again, seemingly having rekindled the flame. However, their busy schedules reportedly often kept them apart and they called it quits once again.
#7: Cecily Strong & Mike O’Brien
It’s not just celebrity guests and hosts who are struck by cupid’s arrow on SNL. We suppose if you spend that much time together, eventually sparks might start flying. This was especially true for cast-mates Cecily and Mike who started dating in 2014. In an interview with Cosmo, Cecily confessed that she had some reservations about entering a workplace romance but decided to go for it after receiving advice from her father. The pair were pretty private about their relationship with no social media PDA or any big breakup announcement either. Maybe workplace romances aren’t always advisable but, sometimes the heart just wants what the heart wants.
#6: Maya Rudolph & Paul Thomas Anderson
This couple is so private that some people are still surprised to learn that they’re together. Not only that, but they also have four kids. Rumor has it that they first met on SNL when Anderson accompanied his then-girlfriend, Fiona Apple who was that week’s musical guest. However, they didn’t actually start dating until after he and Apple broke up. They’ve been together since 2001 and, although they never officially tied the knot, she still calls him her husband. Rudolph appeared in Anderson’s movie, “Inherent Vice” and he even claims that “Phantom Thread” was inspired by a moment from their relationship. Talk about #CoupleGoals.
#5: Carrie Fisher & Paul Simon
No one did on-again, off-again quite like Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon. Although the pair initially met a year prior, it was only after their reunion at Studio 8H in 1978 that they became an item. Their relationship withstood over a decade of breaking up and making up, as well as Fisher’s engagement to Dan Aykroyd, who she’d also met through SNL. Fisher left Aykroyd to marry Simon, only for the couple to divorce the following year; nonetheless, their relationship continued until the early 90s. After her tragic passing in 2016, both men only had positive things to say about their former paramour.
#4: Olivia Wilde & Jason Sudeikis
Studio 8H worked its matchmaking magic twice on this SNL alum. Before finding love with Olivia Wilde, Sudeikis briefly dated “Mad Men” actress, January Jones. After that relationship ended, he met Wilde at the season finale afterparty, and they instantly hit it off. However, Sudeikis believed that Wilde was involved at the time and she thought that he wasn’t interested. It was only six months later, with some help from a friend, that they finally started dating. The following year they were engaged and they went on to have two kids together. However, after a seven-year engagement, the pair announced their separation in late 2020.
#3: Gilda Radner & Bill Murray
This OG SNL cast member was romantically linked to a few of her co-stars. In fact, according to her friend, Judy Levy, she struggled to watch “Ghostbusters” as it starred several of her exes. She and Bill Murray dated during the show’s first few seasons. Even though they tried to keep their relationship away from the cameras, it was still widely known and supposedly ended badly. Although things didn’t work out between them, they remained friends until she sadly died in 1989. Murray has nothing but praise for Radner, who he says inspired his career and who he called “an extraordinary and spectacular person”.
#2: Emma Stone & Dave McCary
This happy couple first met when Stone hosted SNL in 2016 and starred in a sketch directed by McCary. However, since they’re both private people, they kept their relationship relatively under wraps, only seeming to confirm it when they attended the SAG Awards together in 2019. Later that year the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Reportedly, McCary proposed at the SNL offices, where they first met. In 2020, they tied the knot in a wedding so secret that no one seems to know where or when it happened. And, in March 2021, news broke that they had become parents to a baby girl.
#1: Scarlett Johannson & Colin Jost
This couple first met in 2006, according to Jost, or as Johanson remembers it, 2010. But it wasn’t until the season 42 afterparty, in 2017 when both, newly single, were spotted getting cozy. Although, apparently Kate McKinnon was already their matchmaker. They dated on the down-low, only going “red carpet official” in 2018. In 2019, ScarJo’s publicist confirmed their engagement and, during her sixth hosting stint, the actress gave her new fiancé a sweet little shoutout. Their nuptials were put on hold by the Covid-19 Pandemic. However, in October 2020, Meals on Wheels surprised us all by breaking the news that they were “Jost Married”.