‘SNL’s Colin Jost Is the World’s Worst Wingman

When it comes to his own dating life, Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost seems to do okay. He reportedly dated Parks and Rec actress Rashida Jones for a few years in the mid-2010s, then courted Scarlett Johansson before marrying the Black Widow star in 2020. But for a guy who had no trouble getting dates, he is by his own admission a terrible wingman.

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To prove the point, Jost told a story on this week’s Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers podcast about a trip he took to Scandinavia. Some of the gang along for the ride: brothers Seth and Josh Meyers, and Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. One stop on the tour was Helsinki, Finland, where Seth was running a full marathon. (He finished 1,730th out of 4,040 — pretty good!)

That night, the crew went out to celebrate. “We were at this bar,” Jost says, “and Josh was talking to a girl. I didn’t know if Josh was interested in the girl or if this girl was interested in Josh.” But from a distance, the inebriated Jost decided to lend a hand. His plan: “I’m going to be a perfect wingman and set up Josh.”

Okaaaaaay. And how exactly did Jost propose to shoot his Cupid’s arrow? “I go over to Josh and this girl he’s talking to, who’s from Helsinki. And I go, ‘Do you know who you’re talking to right now?’” The girl confessed that she didn’t, so Jost let her in on a secret/lie. “You’re talking to Gerald Ford Jr.”

Why did Jost think that particular persona would be the key to romance? “That was, in my state, I thought the perfect brag because then she’d be, ‘Oh my god, it’s like a Kennedy except it’s Gerald Ford Jr.!’”

(Jost confesses that to this day, he doesn’t know if Gerald Ford Jr. is an actual person. The ex-President’s actual sons are Michael, John, and Steven. So, no, he’s not.)

Jost assumed the young woman would be starstruck. And sure enough, “immediately, this Finnish woman goes, ‘You’re Gerald Ford Jr?’”

Josh, trained in the improv comedy principles of “Yes, and” played along. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I am.”

“Why aren’t you doing something to stop the state of politics in America right now?” she demanded of young “Ford.” She launched into a diatribe about how Josh Meyers … er, Gerald Ford Jr. had the power to stop it. “You could be making a difference right now,” she said, “and shouldn’t be here drinking in a bar!” 

The confrontation went on for a while as Jost slinked away. It’s quite a detailed story though Seth couldn’t believe Jost remembered anything from that night, a drunken debacle that ended with the Weekend Update anchor sleeping in what he believed was a public park but ended up being a Finnish graveyard. Sounds like Jost is better off avoiding the bars and staying home at night with Scarlett and the kids. Anything to keep him from pulling off more misguided wingman maneuvers.