Ariana Grande Suggests That ‘SNL’ Finally Got The Message About Annoying Domingo

According to beloved Saturday Night Live host and Wicked star Ariana Grande, Domingo may finally be dead and gone. We’re going to need to see a coroner’s report.

Saturday Night Live viewers are starting to have physiological stress reactions every time they see Chloe Fineman and Andrew Dismukes sitting side-by-side at the top of a scene. What was once a novel, quirky and charming sketch idea – a group of bridesmaids poorly singing a bespoke cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” that slowly introduced a chaotic presence into the wedding – has since become a jump-scare for the viewers, most recently earning the fans’ ire in the cold open on the October 18th episode.

After four appearances on SNL in slightly over one year, Domingo has gone from a fan-favorite character to public enemy #1, and, during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, one of the stars from the original sketch gave SNL fans – and poor Matthew – hope for Domingo's future, or lack thereof.

“Oh, I think — he’s been really busy,” Grande said of Domingo when Fallon asked her about the Marcello Hernández character, “I think Domingo is … I think Domingo is dead.”

When Domingo made his SNL debut on October 12th, 2024, his first sketch, "Bridesmaid Speech," was easily the highlight of the night. Right now, the above YouTube video of the scene boasts over 20 million views, and the character of Domingo was so popular that, one month later Hernández repeated his performance as the doctor/model/homewrecker while onstage with Carpenter the next month during a Short n' Sweet tour show in Los Angeles.

As you can tell by the thousands of screaming fans in the above clip, Domingo was a Gen Z sensation when he first hit the scene. This popularity inspired Lorne Michaels and the SNL writers' room to do what they do best – run the joke into the ground until we absolutely hate it. The night before Hernández crashed the Carpenter concert, SNL debuted its second Domingo sketch, “Domingo: Babymoon,” which featured Charli XCX as one of the friends singing an altered rendition of "Hot to Go!" during Matthew and Kelsey's baby shower.

Though obviously not as novel or beloved as the first Domingo sketch, “Babymoon” didn't yet drive the character into shark-jumping territory, and the character's graduation from wedding-ruiner to illegitimate father was a natural escalation for the bit. However, after “Babymoon,” SNL had no choice but to keep raising the stakes and introduce even more celebrity guest stars, which they did at the SNL 50 special on February 16th, 2025 with “Domingo: Vow Renewal.”

Now, that, right there, should have been the final Domingo sketch – but, sadly, SNL is physically incapable of ending a joke on time. However, to the show's credit, SNL did wait eight months to completely eradicate the good will that was left for Domingo. On October 18th, SNL kicked off the night with "Domingo Cold Open,” which has a legitimate claim to being the most hated SNL sketch in recent memory.

While Grande (probably) doesn't have the power to officially declare a running SNL gag dead and gone, the fact that one of the show's favorite hosts and musical guests is unafraid to slyly acknowledge how old Domingo got – during an appearance on one of Michaels' other NBC comedy shows, no less – hopefully means there are no plans for “Domingo 5.”

Then again, wouldn't it be just like Domingo to come back right when we thought we were safe from him?