New York | People’s “Sexiest Man Alive of 2021” was inducted into the vaunted Five-Timers Club on Saturday Night Live, but the surging omicron variant of the coronavirus meant there was no live audience to see it happen. Instead, viewers at home saw new sketches taped earlier in the week, and highlights from years past.

The long-running sketch comedy show announced on social media on Saturday afternoon (Sunday AEDT) that the night’s episode, featuring Ant-Man star Paul Rudd as host, would tape without a live audience and with only limited cast and crew “due to the recent spike in the omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution”.

AP