AHEAD of season 51 of Saturday Night Live (SNL), several cast members have confirmed they are leaving the iconic comedy sketch show.
This signals one of the biggest cast shake-ups in recent years — here’s everything you need to know.
Emil Wakim, Devon Walker and Michael Longfellow are among the stars leaving Saturday Night Live[/caption]
Heidi Gardner is also making an exit from the much-loved comedy show[/caption]
Who is leaving Saturday Night Live?
Heidi Gardner, a veteran who was with the show for eight seasons from 2017, is the most high-profile of the recent departures from Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Months before announcing she was leaving, during a podcast interview on Joy with Craig Ferguson she said: “I will say the only thing that I’ve started to feel a little bit is just sketch fatigue, or idea fatigue.
“At this point, after doing Groundlings and SNL for so long, I’m like ‘I’ve written a lot of sketches’.”
She made her debut as a featured player in Season 43, becoming a full cast member two years later and earning acclaim for her distinct, neurotic characters.
Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim are also making an exit.
Starting in 2022, Devon was on the show for three seasons, initially as a featured performer before becoming a full cast member.
He shared the news of his departure on Instagram, describing the show as “toxic as hell”, but also “really cool”.
Michael, who also joined in 2022 and was promoted to main cast in Season 50, also confirmed his departure.
Emil, the newest cast member, is also leaving — he spent just one season on the show in 2024.
He said learning about his departure was a “gut punch”, adding that he remained grateful for the opportunity.
These departures come as part of a broader revamp SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels teased publicly in an interview with Puck News on August 22, 2025.
He told the media he feels the pressure to reinvent and revitalize the show for Season 51 — especially after largely keeping the cast intact for the milestone 50th anniversary season.
So these exits are understood to be part of his vision to inject new energy and fresh faces into the cast ahead of the October 2025 premiere of season 51.
The cast for season 48 of Saturday Night Live[/caption]
What is the Saturday Night Live cast?
The cast for season 51 consists of a mix of long-standing players and brand new talent.
Kenan Thompson, who holds the record as SNL’s longest-serving cast member after joining in 2003, remains a cornerstone of the show’s line-up.
The expected cast for season 51 of SNL, which is yet to be confirmed, includes:
- Kenan Thompson (longest-serving cast member)
- Colin Jost (Weekend Update co-anchor)
- Michael Che (Weekend Update co-anchor)
- Mikey Day
- Chloe Fineman
- Ego Nwodim
- Bowen Yang
- Sarah Sherman
- Marcello Hernandez
- Ashley Padilla (featured player)
- Jane Wickline (featured player)
- James Austin Johnson (returning, known for Donald Trump impersonation)
- Andrew Dismukes
New additions for season 51 have not yet been announced, as of August 29, 2025.
The premiere of Season 51 of SNL airs on Saturday, October 4, 2025, marking a new chapter in the history of the iconic comedy sketch show.
