Saturday Night Live confirmed which cast members are definitely returning for season 51 after a wave of shocking axings

Saturday Night Live is continuing its mass cast exodus with another shocker. According to Variety, fan-favorite cast member Michael Longfellow has departed the long-running variety sketch series ahead of Season 51.

Other stars set to return include Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson, as well as Season 50 newcomers Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. Variety was the first to report the news.

The tea leaves continue to form unmistakable patterns for Saturday Night Live and Weekend Update. After Lorne Michaels announced he’ll be shaking up the cast this year, Michael Che dropped more crypti

Five new cast members will join the upcoming season of “ Saturday Night Live ,” NBC announced Tuesday on the heels of several high-profile departures. Ben Marshall, already an "SNL" writer, will become a featured player, along with newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.

Longtime Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost haven’t officially announced their departures yet—in fact, there hasn’t been any official cast member departure news. We can expect those announcements imminently (the show itself returns October 4 ),

The Season 51 premiere airs on Saturday, Oct. 4, on NBC at 11:30 ET. Keep reading for all the stars who have left, joined, or are returning to “SNL” ahead of the upcoming run. The comedian, 42, is exiting “SNL” after eight years on the show.