Gardner joined the show as a featured player in 2017 and became a main cast member in 2019, making her the longest-running woman in the current cast. Wakim joined the show last year as a featured player and called his exit a “gut punch.”

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Punkie Johnson spoke for many fans of the long-running late-night sketch comedy show in late August, with three simple words: “wtf is happening.” Her comment came in response to the announcement that cast member Michael Longfellow was leaving the show after three seasons.

The shakeup at Studio 8H is complete. A handful of “Saturday Night Live” cast members have left the show as a slew of new faces arrive ahead of the NBC sketch series’ 51st season. But most of the longest-tenured cast members have stayed on for at least another season,

Saturday Night Live” season 51 will kick off with hosts Bad Bunny, Amy Poehler and Sabrina Carpenter amid major cast exodus.

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.

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels finally addressed the shock exits of some of the show’s cast members earlier this month. “The show has always brought people in from new, different ages and different generations,

The SNL stars not returning for Season 51 include Heidi Gardner (after eight seasons), Michal Longfellow (after three seasons), Devon Walker (after three seasons), Emil Wakim (after one season), and John Higgins, who was part of the Please Don’t Destroy troupe that joined the late-night show in 2021.

"Saturday Night Live" boss Lorne Michaels has finally addressed the sketch show's huge cast shake-up ahead of Season 51, saying "change is good."

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Kirk, 31, was shot and killed as he spoke during a campus event at Utah Valley University on September 10. The right-wing activist was the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth movement. Newsweek has emailed a representative for Pratt outside of regular working hours for comment.

Ego Nwodim is leaving “Saturday Night Live” after seven seasons, making Season 51 the first in years without a Black woman in the cast.