Ariana Grande Says ‘SNL’ Charades Sketch Was Inspired By Her Mom’s “Insane” Real-Life Comments During Game Night

Natalie Oganesyan
·2-min read

Ariana Grande offered an inside look as to how her hilarious “Charades with Mom” sketch came into being during her second time hosting Saturday Night Live last month.

Appearing recently on the popular Las Culturistas podcast, the Wicked star said a real-life occurrence with her extended family two months prior made her contact friend and colleague Bowen Yang to craft a skit surrounding her mother Joan Grande’s outlandish comments during a contentious game night.

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“It was Labor Day weekend and Hale — my brother-in-law Hale’s family — was visiting,” Grande began. “We had a lovely, fun game day. It was so fun and funny and sweet. And my mom is, by the way, the most generous, kindest, giving person in the entire world. She is the hostess with the mostest.”

“But [competitive], yeah, and fiercely protective of her children,” she added. “So even if we’re playing charades and whatever, you don’t f— around.”

The Grammy-winning vocalist set the scene: “We’re playing charades and Hale’s brother, my brother-in-law’s brother … was like, ‘Haha, we’re winning’ vibes. That was the extent of it was he was like, ‘Woo-hoo! We’re ahead,’ and my mom goes, ‘Tiny-dick syndrome, huh?’”

Grande said she “excused myself immediately to send a voice note to Bowen. There’s something here.”

“And I was like, ‘Mommy, wait, that’s not funny.’ I was like, ‘Mom, that’s intense and harmful. That’s so intense!'” Grande said. “We all were laughing, and, of course, [Hale’s brother] laughed. But she was like, ‘Well, that’s a sign of what that is.’ And I was like, ‘Mommy! This is insane!’ And then I started doing it as a bit for Jesse, Hale’s other brother, and he was crying tears and it lasted the whole day. So I was like, ‘Bowen, we have to do something with this, please. It’s just so silly.'”

Yang, who also co-stars alongside Grande in Jon M. Chu’s forthcoming Wicked Part 1, voiced his own shock at the ridiculous moment. “My jaw dropped. I was like, ‘Joan.'”

Elsewhere during the podcast, Yang jokingly apologized to the Eternal Sunshine singer-songwriter for opening up his mouth “too much” during their kiss in the chaotic sketch.

Reflecting on her hosting stint, which resulted after she contacted SNL‘s creator and EP Lorne Michaels for a spot, Grande said, “I had the time of my life, I would have done it right after we finished, at 1 a.m., again. I really love being there, I love every single person there. I just had the loveliest best time with everyone. I love laughing, I love comedy, I love bits.”

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