Hannah Waddingham Boosts Saturday Night Live UK’s Audience Numbers
Hannah Waddingham hosted the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live UK this weekend, contributing to a notable rise in the show’s ratings. The episode attracted an audience of 197,200 viewers, according to official figures from BARB, provided by overnights.tv. This marks the highest viewership the series has seen in five weeks, ranking as the third-largest audience of the season.
Two episodes earlier in the season had better performances: the premiere, hosted by Tina Fey, drew 226,000 viewers, while the second episode featuring Jamie Dornan logged 205,000. However, the live viewing numbers represent only part of the picture; the audience for SNL UK more than triples when accounting for catch-up, streaming, and repeat viewings.
Recent ratings, along with sketches that have gone viral online, prompted Sky to announce a second season renewal for SNL UK. Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, expressed pride in the team’s continuous improvement, stating, “I’m incredibly proud of our team and the show. It keeps getting better every week.”
In the episode hosted by Waddingham, known for her role in Ted Lasso, Peter Serafinowicz portrayed Nigel Farage in a cold open sketch. This particular sketch imagined a future in 2046, where Farage, as Prime Minister, interacts with a monarch referred to as "King Trump."
With only one episode remaining in its first season, SNL UK will be hosted next week by Ncuti Gatwa.
