For anyone on social media, clips and soundbites from a viral “Saturday Night Live” sketch about a man named Domingo have been difficult to escape.
Domingo made his debut during the Oct. 12 episode of the live comedy show. Host Ariana Grande starred alongside multiple cast members in a sketch called “Bridesmaid Speech,” in which a group of bridesmaids sing about the bride’s bachelorette trip at her wedding.
The song unexpectedly details Kelsey’s (Chloe Fineman) affair with a man named Domingo, which sets off the groom, Matt (Andrew Dismukes). At the end of the song, just as Kelsey explains that her mystery man is in the past, Marcello Hernandez shows up as Domingo.
In a now-viral line, he sings, “Hey Matt, came all this way/ Had to explain, direct from Domingo/ Kelsey’s a friend/ She’s like my sis/ But we did hook up though.”
The sketch quickly reached viral fame — the original TikTok clip on “SNL’s” page has over 100 million views. More recently, the sketch has made its way into the real world. Hernandez has made appearances as his famous “SNL” character and referenced Domingo in his stand-up.
Here’s what to know about the sketch and the enthusiastic reaction it provoked.
What happens in Domingo ‘SNL’ sketches?
The two Domingo sketches, so far, have taken on the same pattern.
Kelsey’s friends — played by cast members Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Sarah Sherman and the celebrity guest — recap an encounter Kelsey had with Domingo in the form of a pop song parody.
In the first sketch, a riff off Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” the women sing about their wild bachelorette trip to Charleston, South Carolina.
The off-key song details bride Kelsey’s escapades with Domingo until Matt finally demands that his new wife explain who the mystery man is. Domingo then appears alongside the bridesmaids, unabashedly confessing to the affair.
The sketch ends with Kelsey dancing with Domingo and her bridesmaids as she shouts to Matt (or maybe to Domingo), “Hope we can still be friends!”
After the success of the first Domingo sketch, the show brought the character back for part two during its Nov. 16 episode. The second sketch, called “Babymoon,” continues the Domingo saga. In it, host Charli xcx joins the previous bridesmaids to sing a song for pregnant Kelsey and husband Matt during her baby shower.
Set to the tune of Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!,” the song recaps the friends’ trip in Miami, Florida. They reveal the trip’s real intention was to see Domingo, as Kelsey was having doubts as to the identity of her baby’s father.
The next twist? Kelsey is having twins. One twin is Matt’s and the other is … Domingo’s, of course.
Domingo pops up with a special message to his now co-parent, Matt.
“Hey Matt, my brother, aren’t you happy?/ Direct from Domingo, we both are daddies/ Domingo going to be in your life forever/ We’ll raise our babies in Miami, together!” Domingo sings.
Though Matt wasn’t too pleased, the internet welcomed Domingo back with open arms. The clips “SNL” shared of the second sketch have over 40 million views so far.
The world reacts to Domingo
Simply put, Domingo has dominated the internet. The original clip from the sketch shared to “SNL’s” TikTok has garnered over 102 million views, with fans using the song in their own social media videos.
Released weeks before Halloween, several TikTok users uploaded their creative costumesinspired by Domingo and the sketchleading up to the holiday.
Hernandez is, naturally, caught at the center of the phenomenon. When he visited Citi Field in October, the New York Mets gifted Hernandez a Mets jersey emblazoned with just one name: Domingo.
In a TikTok video, Hernandez laughs as he holds up the uniform and sings, “Hey Mets, came all this way/ Had to say, direct from Domingo.”
Hernandez joked during one of his October stand-up sets that he would only do the Domingo impression once.
“Let’s make a deal. We do it one time and then we put our phones down and you let me tell you the jokes that I wrote for you,” Hernandez told the crowd.
Sabrina Carpenter, whose song “Espresso” kicked off the trend, got further in on the joke when she playfully arrested Hernandez, who showed up in full Domingo costume, at her Nov. 17 show in Los Angeles.
In clips shared by fans to social media, Carpenter asks Domingo if he has any last words before she puts her pink handcuffs on him.
“Came all this way/ Had to explain/ Direct from Domingo,” Hernandez sang as the crowd went wild. “Sabrina’s a friend/ She’s like my sis/ But I would hookup though!”
Carpenter responded, “Like, now?” and handed him the handcuffs before singing hit “Juno.”
Following the exchange, Hernandez shared a series of photos with Carpenter on social media with no caption. Dressed as Domingo, he posed with his hand on Carpenter’s thigh.
Another picture from the post captures the moment Hernandez sang to Carpenter in character, while another shot shows a card that reads “Domingo.”
Carpenter shared her own post that included shots with Hernandez as Domingo, including a polaroid photo of them posing together and a clip from their fun banter. The post also featured an image of her holding up the pink handcuffs for Hernandez.
