Ryan Gosling and Matt Damon celebrate Kristen Wiig's SNL honour

Stars including Ryan Gosling, Matt Damon and Paul Rudd congratulated Kristen Wiig as she joined the elite Saturday Night Live Five-Timers Club last night.

The Bridesmaids actress was eager to celebrate as she hosted the popular US TV show for the fifth time, earning her a coveted navy jacket in recognition of her success.

“As a former cast member, it is very special,” Wiig told the audience. “I’m really excited about getting my jacket tonight… they don’t just hand the jackets off to anyone.”

Rudd, dressed in a Five-Timers jacket, then cheekily interrupted Wiig’s speech to ask if he could take part in the ceremony to hand over the jacket.

Celebrations continued to take a downturn when Wiig realised some of her male counterparts had already been recognised despite not achieving the five-time hosting feat.

Damon, who has only fronted the show twice, appeared on stage wearing the prestigious jacket and told the audience, “Lorne Michaels, SNL creator said the first time I hosted was so good, it accounted for three - and then second time not quite as good that only counted for two. But by my math, that’s five. Maybe.”

Damon also joked he was a “big fan” of the actress and had grown up watching her on SNL – despite being older than Wiig.

Famous faces including Jon Hamm, Martin Short, Fred Armisen and Will Forte then took to the stage all proudly posing in one of the coveted coats – despite not hosting for the required number of shows.

“What is going on here?” Wiig demanded, trying to keep a straight face. “I mean, I was really excited about being in the Five-Timers Club but now it just seems like I don’t know. It’s not even that special.”

Gosling, who is due to host next weekend, was next on stage and sheepishly showed off his prematurely awarded Five-Timers jacket.

“Are you sure,” Gosling asked looking worried, as Michaels gave him the thumbs up. “I mean, I haven’t even hosted three times yet.”

In a bid to make amends, Gosling rushed over to give Wiig her jacket as the whole group serenaded the star by singing, "This is your night!"