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‘Today’: Colin Jost Explains Going ‘Bald’ in the ‘SNL’ Season 51 Finale

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‘Today’: Colin Jost Explains Going ‘Bald’ in the ‘SNL’ Season 51 Finale

Originally posted on TV Insider | Last updated May 20, 2026 2:22 PM ET

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Colin Jost nearly underwent a dramatic change in appearance during Saturday Night Live‘s Season 51 finale.

During his and Michael Che‘s annual “Weekend Update” joke swap, Che had Jost apologize for one of his jokes by offering to change his look. “To apologize, I’d like to sacrifice the most important thing in my life: my beautiful, award-winning, world-famous … hair,” he said through laughs on the Saturday, May 16, episode. “That’s right. I’m shaving it off. Send in the barber.”

A barber joined the duo at the “Weekend Update” desk and placed a salon cape on Jost before taking out a pair of clippers. “Jerome, make me unpretty,” said a shocked Jost, who believed he was actually having his hair cut live on TV. Che quickly interrupted, stating, “No, no, no! You was really gonna do it? Man, you are the greatest comedian of all time.”

Jost briefly fooled viewers into thinking he had shaved his head by sporting a bald head at the end of the episode.

Jost broke down the hilarious SNL moment — while sporting a full head of hair — on the Wednesday, May 20, episode of Today. “It’s different at dress rehearsal. There’s a whole ending to it that was totally different at dress rehearsal. There wasn’t anything related to this at dress rehearsal,” he explained. “So, this starts happening, and I’m just going along with it ‘cause I’m like, ‘Oh, I guess I have to.’ And then, afterward, I was like, ‘Why did I think I had to do that?’ I was prepared to just have my head [shaved].”

Jost joked that his willingness to shave his hair on the show is a “conversation for my therapist.” He added, “But I was like, ‘Why would I just say yeah?’ And in my head, in that quick moment, I immediately was triangulating.”

Jost said he assumed the decision to change his look was approved by his wife, Scarlett Johansson, and his team. “I’m like, ‘I’m sure they talked to Scarlett. She said, ‘Oh, this is an OK time to shave his head.’ I was supposed to film something this week. ‘I’m sure they talked to production. They have a wig ready for me.’ This all went through my head,” he recalled.

Jost went on to praise SNL‘s makeup team for agreeing to his impromptu bald cap idea. “I went to them five minutes before goodnights, and I was like, ‘Wait, what if we do it right now?’ And they dropped everything and did it, and I ran out. I almost missed it. I ran out right as Will [Ferrell] was saying, like, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Paul McCartney.’”

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Fans previously shared their reaction to Jost’s nearly bald moment via social media. “Colin just played the ultimate game of chicken and won,” one person commented underneath a clip of the joke swap on SNL‘s Instagram page. Another added, “I 100% thought Colin was about to go through with that.”

Someone else questioned, “Do you think Scarlett knew about the hair joke or she had a heart attack at that moment??” A different person posted, “I was worried for hair, more than he was.” A separate commenter quipped, “Bro was all the way committed to the bit. great job year after year, boys.”

Today, Weekdays, 7am, NBC

This article first appeared on TV Insider and was syndicated with permission.

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