Dakota Johnson slipped onto the Saturday Night Live stage with a cha cha so smooth, it had the audience in a trance. The Materialists actress made a surprise appearance in the December 13 episode, hosted by Josh O’Connor, during Lily Allen’s musical guest performance. She stepped out as the mistress in Lily’s hit song, “Madeline,” lounging on a bed hidden behind translucent curtains as Lily sang the lyrics of the track, which tells the story of a woman confronting her husband’s lover.
But her identity was kept concealed until the end of the performance, when Dakota stepped up behind Lily, 40, to place a tender kiss on her cheek. Throughout the performance, Dakota chimed in by speaking the lines of the fictional woman's text messages, her voice carrying a sense of playful confidence.
"Hey, he is telling you the truth," she recited as Madeline. "Our relationship has only ever been about sex. I can promise you that this is not an emotional connection. We don’t speak outside the time we spend together. And whenever he talks about you, it’s with the utmost respect."
While Lily—who ended her 4-year marriage with David Harbour in 2024—repeatedly expressed her internal battle of whether she could trust Madeline's word, the fictional character ultimately seemed to prove herself as a girls' girl. "I hate that you’re in so much pain right now," Dakota's Madeline added. "I really don’t wanna be the cause of any upset. He told me that you were aware this was going on and that he had your full consent. If he’s lying about that, then please let me know. Because I have my own feelings about dishonesty. Lies are not something that I wanna get caught up in."
She added, with a wink, "You can reach out to me any time, by the way. If you need any more details or you just need to vent or anything. Love and light, Madeline."
For her surprise cameo, Dakota wore a lace little black dress paired with a sheer bedazzled robe. To top off the look, the Fifty Shades alum wore a green statement necklace and rocked her signature bangs.
While Dakota is no stranger to risqué fashion looks, her love for daring style nearly caused a fashion emergency during a June 2025 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. After arriving to set rocking a short black dress with a plunging neckline, she exclaimed, "Oh, God." Dakota added as she fixed her near-fashion emergency, "This was the wrong outfit." But her fashion mishap didn't phase the style pro one bit; she quickly noted to the host, "I’ll keep my posture real good."
