The Best, Worst and Most Oops Moments from Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘SNL’ Episode

Live from Studio 8H — it’s Sabrina Carpenter!

The late-night comedy sketch series aired the third episode of season 51 on Saturday, Oct. 18, with the singer, 26, pulling double duty as host and musical guest.

During the show, the “Taste” musician played a 12-year-old male podcast host and featured in a reprised Domingo Cold Open. She also sang “Manchild” and an uncensored version of “Nobody’s Son.” The episode appeared to suffer a technical issue as Carpenter portrayed a girl boss in a sketch.

Here, see the best, worst and most oops moments in our roundup of the highs, lows and yikes of the latest episode of SNL.

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Best: Sabrina Carpenter Monologue

Carpenter’s monologue appeared to have been cut short as the start of SNL was delayed by college football. However, the Grammy winner soon got audiences to forget their frustration at waiting for the episode to start by playfully addressing the backlash she got for the cover art of her latest album, Man’s Best Friend.

“Some people got a little freaked out by the cover,” Carpenter said. “I’m not sure why? It was just this: me on all fours, with an unseen figure pulling my hair. But what people don’t realize is that’s just how they cropped it.

“If you zoom out, it’s clearly a picture from the 50th anniversary special of Bowen [Yang] helping me up by the hair,” she joked. “After Martin Short shoved me out of the buffet line, saying something like, ‘Daddy need his mini quiche.’ ”

Despite having been mentioned, Yang was notably absent from the episode. “Missing the show tonight, but it will be sooooo fun,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories, adding, “Sab is amazing.”

In one of the best sketches from the episode, Carpenter teamed up with Chloe Fineman, Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska as a group of 12-year-old boys hosting a podcast.

James Austin Johnson unexpectedly appeared as President Donald Trump, having been invited onto the podcast to discuss “fire” foods.

“Now, I have a question for you boys. Do you think I’m getting into heaven?” said Johnson, as Trump.

The boys were unsure and left Trump to come to his own conclusion.

“Probably not, right? Epstein!” said SNL‘s Trump, referring to deceased sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. “Oh, well. You know, it’s been a good run. I had a great time.”

Worst: Domingo Cold Open

The Domingo sketch returned for a fourth time since its debut, with Kelsey surprising her husband Matt on his 30th birthday with a performance from her best friends.

Carpenter led the performance inspired by Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” as the friends revealed Kelsey’s affair with Domingo before he randomly arrived.

“This sketch was introduced last season and has been done FOUR TIMES. Please let it die, it only worked twice,” a viewer commented on YouTube.

“Just when I thought they ENDED these Domingo sketches, somehow, for some INSANE reason, they return!” another chimed in.

“The Cold Open is usually about current events, no? What is this?” a third quipped.

Viewers were also left unimpressed when Carpenter appeared to have issues with her mic during the Girlboss seminar sketch.

The “Nonsense” singer continued with her lines despite viewers momentarily being unable to hear what she was saying.

“Who cut off Sabrina’s mic in the middle of the skit???? They tryna sabotage my girl 😭 #snl” a viewer wrote on X.

“Sabrina’s mic went out. Wish we could’ve heard what she was saying. #SNL,” another X user said.

Oops: Sabrina Carpenter: “Nobody’s Son”

Having performed “Manchild” earlier in the episode, Carpenter returned to the stage to perform “Nobody’s Son.”

Viewers on the East Coast of North America were left speechless as she sang, “he sure f—ed me up” without any censoring, while a slight delay allowed for viewers on the West Coast to have a few seconds of silence where the expletive was said.

It wasn’t the first time Carpenter served as a musical guest, as she previously performed in May 2024. She also recently starred in SNL50: The Anniversary Special, which aired in February.

Saturday Night Live airs weekends on NBC.