Ariana Grande and the Grinch Steal the show in SNL’s Love Is Blind sketch.
Saturday Night Live leaned hard into festive absurdity for its Christmas episode.
Ariana Grande led the charge with a surreal parody that mashed Love Is Blind with Dr. Seuss-level fever dream.
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The sketch opens like a familiar Netflix recap, with Love Is Blind hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey revisiting the emotional connection between contestant Janelle (played by Grande) and her mystery pod match, revealed to be the Grinch, portrayed by Mikey Day.
When the couple finally meet face to face, the illusion collapses instantly.
Janelle’s stunned reaction, “Are you the literal Grinch?”, sets the tone, puncturing the genre’s earnestness with a single, devastating question.
The Grinch’s casual response, implying his identity simply “never came up,” skewers the willful blindness baked into reality dating shows.
From there, the sketch escalates with deliberate discomfort.
Janelle grapples with the logistics of dating a non-human, briefly reconsidering the relationship before walking away, a moment that lands as both absurd and oddly grounded.
The punchline arrives at the reunion, where the two reappear not only together, but thriving.
The Grinch, now going by “Neal” because his former name is “triggering,” reveals he’s pregnant.
The sonogram confirms their child will inherit his father’s green complexion and anti-Christmas disposition, pushing the parody firmly into SNL’s sweet spot of committed nonsense.
Grande’s episode didn’t stop there.
She also appeared in a darkly comic Home Alone reimagining, playing Kevin McAllister as an unhinged architect of traps so extreme they border on horror parody.
Elsewhere, she leaned into her musical instincts with a holiday song set to the melody of ‘I Want for Christmas Is You’, joined by cast members pitching intentionally terrible gift ideas.
While the sketch prioritised vocals over punchlines, it reinforced what the episode made clear:
Grande is most effective on SNL when she fully commits, whether that’s singing, spoofing pop culture, or earnestly romancing a Christmas villain.
For more sketches and highlights from the episode, revisit SNL’s latest Christmas special online.
