Martha Stewart Still Dreams of Hosting ‘SNL’ After Parole Officer Stopped Her in 2005

Martha Stewart has revealed that her parole officer once stopped her from hosting Saturday Night Live, though she continues to hold out hope of one day appearing on NBC’s iconic late-night variety show.

The lifestyle guru appeared on The Tonight Show on Monday night (January 27), where host Jimmy Fallon asked her if she would ever be down to host SNL. That’s when Stewart revealed she had been lined up for the gig back in 2005, only for her parole officer to put an end to it.

“I wanted to and they asked me as I was coming out of Alderson — that camp that I was in for a while — and my parole officer wouldn’t give me the time to do it,” Stewart said, referencing her five-month stint in Alderson Federal Prison from October 8, 2004 to March 4, 2005.

Stewart was found guilty of felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct, of obstruction of an agency proceeding, and of making false statements to federal investigators relating to her selling her stake in the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems in December 2001.

In addition to her five-month sentence in federal prison, the Martha Stewart Show host was given a two-year period of supervised release (including five months of electronic monitoring). “I was allowed to be out of my house eight hours a day,” she told Fallon.

“And the parole officer said ‘No?’ the late-night host asked.

“No—” Stewart replied, adding, “That b******. I still have his name and his number. I’m so p*****… Maybe someday.”

After Fallon told her she would be “fantastic,” Stewart responded, “Oh I would. I’d be amazing… start a campaign!”

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While the SNL gig didn’t work out, Stewart reignited her career following her prison release in 2005, returning to her magazine program Martha Stewart Living and debuting her cooking show The Martha Stewart Show, launching new lifestyle products, and releasing a book, The Martha Rules. In 2024, she was the subject of the Netflix documentary Martha.

However, she is still dreaming of that SNL appearance and is clearly a fan of the show, as she discussed it on The Tonight Show. When Fallon told her she is “one of the most impersonated people” on SNL, Stewart said, “David [Spade] is my favorite.”

Stewart has also been imitated by SNL alums Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon.

“I love it!” Stewart said of the impersonations. “Imitation is the highest form of flattery.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, NBC