{"id":393248,"date":"2025-09-03T00:44:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T00:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393248\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T00:44:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T00:44:24","slug":"snl-shake-up-five-new-cast-members-announced-after-stars-shock-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393248\/","title":{"rendered":"SNL shake-up: Five new cast members announced after star\u2019s shock exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

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Saturday nights are about to look a little different.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the season 51 premiere of Saturday Night Live<\/a> \u2014 and after boss Lorne Michaels promised to make some significant changes<\/a> \u2014 five new cast members have been announced following the departure of four others.<\/p>\n

SNL\u2019s last season included cast members Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Michael Longfellow, and Weekend Update co-hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost. Featured players Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline also joined the cast last year.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Puck, Michaels, 80, confirmed he plans to \u201cshake things up\u201d next season after the show\u2019s 50th finale passed without any major cast departures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted people coming back and being part of [the 50th season],\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"Emil<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Emil Wakim, Devon Walker, and Michael Longfellow are all exiting ‘SNL’ ahead of Season 51 (Getty Images for the American Mu)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn\u2019t be those kind of disruptions [to the cast], or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season]. And we had an election,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he felt \u201cpressured to reinvent this season,\u201d Michaels said he does.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out at SNL.<\/p>\n

Arrivals<\/p>\n

Ben Marshall and Veronika Slowikowska<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Ben Marshall and Veronika Slowikowska will join the \u2018SNL\u2019 season 51 cast (NBC)<\/p>\n

Marshall joined SNL in 2021 along with John Higgins and Martin Herlihy, the trio behind comedy group Please Don\u2019t Destroy. The troupe regularly made videos and appeared in sketches on the show. Marshall now officially joins the cast, and Herlihy is believed to be staying on as a writer. Higgins has departed.<\/p>\n

Best known for her internet sketches posted on Instagram, Slowikowska\u2019s acting credits include Shane Gillis\u2019 Netflix comedy series Tires and FX\u2019s What We Do in the Shadows.<\/p>\n

Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, and Kam Patterson<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, and Kam Patterson have all been confirmed to join the \u2018SNL\u2019 cast (NBC)<\/p>\n

Brennan is best-known for the web series and podcast Roommates-In-Law. A regular at New York City\u2019s famous venue, Comedy Cellar, he recently made his debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and has been featured on Comedy Central and Don’t Tell Comedy.<\/p>\n

Culhane is an actor, writer, and comedian who rose to fame posting sketches on Instagram and TikTok. In addition to regularly appearing on Dropout TV programming, his credits include The Sex Lives of College Girls, Make Some Noise, and American Vandal.<\/p>\n

Patterson\u2019s stand up career has quickly gained traction thanks to his work on Tony Hinchcliffe\u2019s Kill Tony podcast. He\u2019s also slated to appear in the forthcoming Kevin Hart film 72 Hours.<\/p>\n

James Austin Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

James Austin Johnson will continue to play Donald Trump on \u2018SNL\u2019 in season 51 (NBC)<\/p>\n

Michaels confirmed James Austin Johnson will return to continue portraying President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Departures<\/p>\n

Heidi Gardner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Heidi<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Heidi Gardner was a fan-favorite cast member, known for characters like Bailey Gismert (Getty)<\/p>\n

In the biggest exit revealed so far, multiple publications reported Thursday that Heidi Gardner was out after eight seasons. <\/p>\n

Last season, she was the longest-tenured current female cast member, and in Season 49, she appeared in more sketches than any other cast member, Variety<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

She became known for her strong presence on Weekend Update and characters like Angel, Every Boxer\u2019s Girlfriend, and teen movie critic Bailey Gismert. She has not yet publicly reacted to reports of her departure.<\/p>\n

Devon Walker<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Devon<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Devon Walker admitted time on the show was \u2018sometimes toxic as hell\u2019 (Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Walker<\/a>, 34, joined the cast in 2022<\/a> after writing for the Netflix sitcom Big Mouth and parodied celebrities and politicians, such as Michael Strahan and Tim Scott, during his time on the NBC sketch show.<\/a><\/p>\n

The comedian admitted his experience on the long-running sketch show was \u201csometimes it was toxic as hell,\u201d but \u201cWe made the most of what it was, even amidst all the dysfunction. We made a f***ed up lil family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emil Wakim<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Emil<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Emil Wakim departs \u2018SNL\u2019 after just one season (Getty)<\/p>\n

Wakim<\/a>, 27, joined the cast of SNL in 2024 for its 50th season<\/a>, often appearing in the Weekend Update segment or performing stand-up bits as himself or various characters. In one memorable December segment, he played Luigi Mangione, the man charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an announcement on social media, Wakim admitted his exit was a \u201cgut punch\u201d to receive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t be returning to SNL next year. It was a gut-punch of a call to get, but I\u2019m so grateful for my time there,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Michael Longfellow<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump and Michael Longfellow as Hannibal Lecter on \u2018SNL\u2019 (NBC)<\/p>\n

Longfellow, 31, joined SNL in a featured capacity ahead of Season 48 and was promoted to a main cast member before Season 50 premiered. Best known for several appearances behind the Weekend Update desk, his departure was first reported by Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill not be returning for a 4th season at SNL. Wish I was but, so it goes,\u201d Longfellow shared on Instagram following the news. <\/p>\n

Addressing Michaels directly, he added: \u201cLorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life… Thank you doesnt begin to cover it, but thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viewers are still waiting to learn the fates of the other main cast members. This page will be updated as casting announcements are made.<\/p>\n

SNL 51 premieres on October 4 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-393248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115137601073717224","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}