Kate Winslet Reveals the NSFW Grooming Request Eminem Made on SNL

Kate Winslet went on The Graham Norton Show to tell some stories, and somehow ended up giving us the most unexpected SNL anecdote imaginable: Eminem, rehearsals, and a very specific grooming request. Yes, really.

The setup: SNL, 2004, the week after the Ashlee Simpson meltdown

Winslet was hosting Saturday Night Live on October 30, 2004 — literally the episode after Ashlee Simpson’s infamous lip-sync faceplant. She was already nervous, then got paired up on sketches with Eminem, which did not exactly lower the chaos factor.

In the middle of rehearsals, Eminem asked if she’d be willing to shave his bottom.

She says he delivered it as casually as ordering a coffee. Her answer was immediate: hard no. As she put it, she doesn’t do ‘personal grooming,’ and she was definitely not about to go in there with a Bick. According to Winslet, she’d never told that story publicly before.

The Norton angle (and yes, she said 'poo-bum')

Winslet joked that every time she sits on Norton’s couch, the conversation somehow circles the drain — her words: there’s always a 'poo-bum' theme. This one, though, tops all her other stage mishaps. For context, she was also out promoting Finding Neverland at the time, so her press tour went from tasteful awards drama to... this.

SNL that week was barely organized chaos (by design)

Winslet called hosting SNL 'terrifying.' She got almost no time with the writers — back when Seth Meyers was the new kid in the room — and had zero clue what her monologue even was. Every time she asked, the writers basically said: can you sing and tap dance? She said yes. They said 'perfect,' and walked away.

No script, no rundown, nothing. Then, just a few hours before going live, someone finally told her she’d be doing a song-and-dance bit poking fun at the Ashlee Simpson fiasco from the previous week. That episode ended up being Winslet’s first and only time hosting SNL. It stressed her out, but she still says she loved the experience.

• When: October 30, 2004 (the week after Ashlee Simpson’s lip-sync disaster)
• Where the story came from: The Graham Norton Show
• The wild part: During rehearsals, Eminem casually asked Winslet to shave his bottom; she declined instantly
• Backstage reality: Little time with the writers; Seth Meyers was still the new guy; no monologue details until hours before air
• What she performed: A last-minute song-and-dance roasting the Simpson mess
• Extra context: She was promoting Finding Neverland at the time
• Outcome: Her only SNL hosting stint — terrifying, but she still 'loved' it

Not the crossover I expected from 2004, but here we are. And now I can never unknow any of it.