SNL welcomes Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie for season 52

Saturday Night Live has completed its Season 52 cast with the addition of comedians Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie.

The NBC sketch comedy series is set to return on September 26 with NBA star Jalen Brunson as host and musical guest Katseye. Reiter and Belo-Osagie are the first new cast members announced for the upcoming season.

Reiter is a Wisconsin-born comedian and actor who built a following on TikTok and YouTube before appearing in Tim Robinson’s HBO comedy series The Chair Company. She is also part of American High’s sketch team and stars in the upcoming series Minimum Wage. Earlier this year, Variety named her one of its 10 Creators to Watch.

Belo-Osagie, a Nigerian American filmmaker and comedian from Queens, is based in Brooklyn. She created the event series Afrobeats Futura and the solo show "Saidah Gets Closure". In 2020, she wrote and directed the short film "Tinge".

Both comedians previously auditioned for SNL during casting sessions held in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. According to Variety, executives evaluated more than a dozen comedians during the process.

The Season 52 announcement comes later than the show's usual casting timeline. The returning cast includes Season 51 newcomers Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska, along with veterans such as Kenan Thompson, Michael Che, Colin Jost and Mikey Day.

Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang will not return, while Martin Herlihy is also departing as a writer.

Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres September 26 on NBC.