Sabrina Carpenter to Make SNL Debut May 18

Rising pop star Sabrina Carpenter and actor Jake Gyllenhaal are the next packaged duo to take the stage in New York on May 18.

The “Espresso” singer recently surprised fans that she would be the musical guest performing on the coveted Saturday Night Live, claiming May 18 as “Sabrina Night Live” in the caption of her Instagram post with the iconic sticky notes SNL uses to announce their guests for each episode.

First, it has already been quite a year for Carpenter. With monumental moments in her career, such as modeling for the newest SKIMS shapewear line, performing at Coachella, and looking stunning at the MET Gala tonight, the pop singer has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. 

Did we forget to mention “Espresso” is one of the hottest songs right now? Releasing before her Coachella performance, the catchy summer tune earned Carpenter her first top-ten spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Although fans are excited for Carpenter to be able to shine on the SNL stage finally, they were a bit confused about why she was paired with Jake Gyllenhaal. For those of you who are not in the loop, Gyllenhaal is one of Taylor Swift’s famous exes, and the main inspiration behind her hit song “All Too Well.”

Now you may be wondering, where does Sabrina Carpenter play a role in this? Carpenter is friends with Swift, and she even opened for her Eras Tour at several pit stops, such as Sydney, Australia, where they spent the day at the zoo afterward. 

As for how the two will interact, we are still almost two weeks away from seeing what sketches are in store and what references will be made about the duo’s shared connection to Swift. Knowing SNL‘s history of touching into pop culture jokes, even when it can be a bit awkward, we’re sure there will be jokes surrounding their history.

For now, you can listen to “Espresso” available on Spotify and Apple Music, and catch up on the latest episodes of SNL when they stream the next day on Peacock.