Colin Jost Reveals He Was “Prepared” to Buzz His Hair on SNL: “I’m Just Going…”
The Weekend Update co-anchor was this close to going through with it!
Key Takeaways
- Colin Jost nearly had his head shaved during SNL’s Joke Swap after an unplanned twist brought a real barber onstage, leaving him momentarily convinced he had to go through with it.
- Jost admitted he was mentally prepared shave his hair off during SNL’s Season 51 finale episode, assuming the stunt had been approved by his wife and the show’s production team.
- Although the shave didn’t happen, Jost later surprised viewers by wearing a bald cap, created last-minute by SNL’s makeup team.
As the final Weekend Update of Saturday Night Live‘s 51st season drew to a close, Colin Jost found himself seconds away from getting his head shaved as millions watched live.
The prank was part of an epic “Joke Swap” segment that has become an SNL tradition between Jost and his longtime Update co-anchor, Michael Che. The premise is simple: Jost and Che take turns reading jokes the other person has written — and it’s just as hilariously chaotic as you’d expect. But the May 16 Will Ferrell-hosted season finale episode of SNL placed Jost in a harrowing position. After being forced to tell a wild joke, Jost continued to read the cue cards.
“Now, that joke is offensive to everybody, and I’d like to apologize. I’d like to sacrifice the most important thing in my life — my beautiful, award-winning, world-famous hair. That’s right, I’m shaving off. Send in the barber,” he said as Che and the audience rightfully freaked out.
Of course, Jost didn’t go through with it — but that just means he lived to tell the tale.
Colin Jost reveals he was “prepared” to have his head shaved on SNL
During a May 20 appearance on TODAY, the longtime SNL writer/cast member stopped by to chat with Carson Daly about how close he really was to getting his head shaved — and what was going through his mind as Che’s barber held clippers precariously close to his gorgeous head of hair. As Jost revealed, the ending of the Joke Swap segment was “different at dress rehearsal,” so a barber coming out on set was a huge surprise.
“So this starts happening and I’m just going along with it, ’cause I’m like, ‘Oh, I guess I have to,'” he explained to Daly. “And afterward, I was like, ‘Why did I think I had to do that?’ I was prepared to just have my head [shaved]. I guess it’s a conversation for my therapist, but I was like, ‘Why would I just say, yeah, whatever you need?'”
Jost confessed that in the moment, he was convinced everything was given the green light by his wife, Scarlett Johansson.
“I’m sure they talked to Scarlett … I’m sure they talked to production … They have a wig ready for me,” Jost recalled thinking when the clippers came out.
So although Jost didn’t actually get his head shaved on live television, he did give faithful SNL viewers a little Easter egg during the goodnights as the credits rolled.
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Eagle-eyed viewers caught Jost rocking a bald cap, leading many to believe that Jost went through with the extreme haircut after all!
“This is how good our whole makeup team is,” Jost explained on TODAY. “I went to them five minutes before goodnights, and I was like, ‘Wait, what if we do it now?’ And they dropped everything and did it, and I ran out right as Will was saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Paul McCartney.'”
You can relive the hilarious moment from SNL’s Season 51 finale episode on Peacock right now.
