Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live as actress Dakota Johnson joked about turning to the pop star for support during her recent breakups.
Johnson, hosting for the third time, used her opening monologue to reflect on relationships with singer Role Model and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
The actress joked that since last hosting the US sketch show, she had been through “two very public, very lame breakups with two very awesome musicians”.
“Some people leave concerts with merch; I leave concerts with a two-and-a-half-year relationship,” she joked, before praising her “supportive” friends.
Swift, who recently appeared alongside the actress in the music video for her new song Patient Zero, then joined her on stage to huge applause from the studio audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my literal therapist,” Johnson said as she introduced the singer.
Swift disputed the title, joking: “I’m not your therapist, actually. You just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some.”
The singer added Johnson would “flop” on her couch and overshare while she occasionally responded, “Damn, that’s crazy”.
Swift continued: “Then I go: ‘Well, you know, it’s getting late, I should really go to bed’. And then you say…”
Johnson jumped in: “Sleepover, yay!”
“Then I give you a Pedialyte and my security drives you home,” the singer joked.
Swift reappeared at the end of the episode, presenting Johnson with a cake in celebration of her birthday.
The Patient Zero music video also stars actor Colin Farrell as Johnson’s husband, with Swift playing his dead ex-wife.
In the video, Swift’s ghost follows Johnson to warn her that Farrell’s character is trying to kill her the way he ultimately killed Swift’s character.
The video, which premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards, was shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, known as Chivo, and Swift wrote on Instagram: “The Patient Zero video is finally out in the world!
She added: “I want to thank @dakotajohnson and Colin for trusting me with their time, taste, and talent (Giggling with your friend because you’re twinning for an entire shoot was a new and truly delightful experience).”
The new single was the first of four new songs on Swift’s expanded version of the album The Life of A Showgirl, which marks her first new music since she married NFL star Travis Kelce on July 3.
