The show must go on?
Longtime Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” anchor Michael Che announced he was feeling “very sick” just hours before Saturday’s live show.
The comedian posted a warning to his Instagram Stories about feeling under the weather about an hour before the show’s dress rehearsal was slated to begin.
“i feel very sick. dont expect a lot out of me tonight. or any night,” he wrote.
In another slide, he shared a jokey reply from a fan that read, “We never do king 🙏 feel better” and he wrote underneath, “ummmmm.. thats actually very rude. [your] king is displeased.”
He did not share any details about what was making him feel unwell.
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for SNL for more info.
All eyes will be on tonight’s “Weekend Update” to see if Che is able to pull through to join co-anchor Colin Jost, or if perhaps a cast member or alum will fill in for the ailing comic. The good news is there will be at least one person in the building who is more than qualified to substitute for Che should it come to that.
Tonight’s host is former SNL star and “Weekend Update” anchor Amy Poehler, joined by musical guest Role Model. The Parks and Recreation actress served on the faux news desk from 2004 to 2008, co-anchoring first with Tina Fey and later Seth Meyers.
Given that tonight’s show is both hosted by a former cast member and falls on the official 50th anniversary of SNL‘s Oct. 11, 1975, premiere, there’s a good chance Poehler won’t be the only alum at Studio 8H tonight.
However, Che posted again about a half-hour before the live show was set to start, in reply to a fan who asked if this meant Poehler and Meyers might do “Weekend Update” tonight, responding, “if i didnt come out to do update, the snl che-hive would blow [their] brains out in disappointment.”
Will Heath/NBC via Getty
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Che joined SNL as a writer in 2013 before taking his place beside Jost the next year as “Weekend Update” co-anchor at the start of season 40, replacing Cecily Strong. Now in his 12th season behind the desk, Che is the second-longest serving “Update” anchor, behind only Jost himself.
Jost and Che previously served as head writers on the show, a position held in the past by the likes of Meyers, Tina Fey, and Adam McKay. One of their most beloved recurring bits is their seasonal joke swap, in which they write material for the other to read aloud for the first time while live on air, trying to shock the other with their outrageous nature. Jost’s jokes for Che to read often revolve around Che’s sex life or goading him into a beef with famous rappers, while Che forces Jost to look racially insensitive or make offensive remarks about his own wife, Scarlett Johansson.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.
