Saturday Night Live: Pete Davidson discusses Israel-Gaza crisis, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce make surprise cameos

SNL's 49th season was hosted by Pete Davidson and included surprise appearances by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift

Saturday Night Live's 49th season debuted on Saturday, October 14 after a six-month hiatus due to the writers' strike. Instead of a skit, it opened with a vivid discussion by host Pete Davidson about the horrible tragedy struck by the Israel-Palestine war. Cheifs' tight end Travis Kelce made a surprise cameo at the very end of a skit, where he addressed his relationship with Taylor Swift and the NFL's obsession with it. Meanwhile, Swift as a last-minute addition to the broadcast, introduced Ice Spice for her performance of ‘Pretty Girls’.

Pete Davidson's opening monologue

SNL hosted by Pete Davidson, featured appearances by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce(Instagram/@nbcsnl)

In the opening monologue, Davidson spoke about the harrowing images he had seen of the victims of the Israel-Gaza conflict. He said, “And I know what you’re thinking, Who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson?” adding, “Well, in a lot of ways, I am a good person to talk about it because when I was seven years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack. So I know something about what that’s like.” He continued, “I saw so many terrible pictures this week. Children suffering, Israeli children and Palestinian children. And it took me back to a really horrible, horrible place. No one in this world deserves to suffer like that, especially not kids.” Davidson's speech soon went viral on social media.

In a parody skit of Fox's NFL Sunday team, anchor Curt Menefee played by Kenan Thompson expressed his annoyance over Terry Bradshaw, portrayed by Molly Kearney, Howie Long (Mikey Day), Devon Walker's Michael Strahan, and Jimmy Johnson's (James Austin Johnson) obsession with the ‘Bad Blood’ singer. At the very end of the skit, Kelce made a surprise cameo. Interestingly, both Swift and Kelce have hosted their individual SNL episodes before.

Fans had already guessed ahead of the SNL premiere that the rumoured lovers would appear on the show as the duo was spotted holding hands while they were out and about for a dinner date. This marked their first public display of affection since speculations about their relationship began.

Meanwhile, ahead of Ice Spice's ‘Pretty Girls’ performance, Swift made a surprise appearance to introduce the singer. The ‘Blank Space’ singer hosted the show back in 2009 when she was just 19. Since then, she has appeared on the show five times, including this season. Videos of both Kelce and Swift's appearances on the SNL took the internet by storm as fans couldn't hold back the excitement.