Paul Rudd hosts ‘SNL’ without audience amid Omicron surge

The PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd officially joined the Saturday Night Live's Five-Timers Club on Saturday. The actor hosted the show without any live audience amid the surging cases of omicron variant of COVID-19 in U.S.

On Saturday afternoon, the NBC comedy show announced on social media that the episode, featuring the Ant-Man actor 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.”

Moreover, SNL also cancelled musical guest Charli XCX's planned performances, including New Shapes with Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek.

During his monologue, Rudd, 52, performed to an empty room alongside fellow Five-Timers Tina Fey, Tom Hanks, and Steve Martin on-video.

"Congratulations on hosting the show four-and-a-half times," Thompson joked, acknowledging the unusual circumstances of the day.

"Tonight everyone at 'Saturday Night Live' planned to do our big Christmas show ... but Covid came early this year," said Hanks. In place of a regular lineup, the Saturday's episode featured holiday highlights from previous seasons.