This is no laughing matter. <\/p>\n
Heidi Gardner\u2019s contract with \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d was not renewed for Season 51, <\/a>an insider exclusively tells The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for a new cast,\u201d the insider said.<\/p>\n The Post has reached out to Gardner\u2019s rep and \u201cSNL\u201d for comment. <\/p>\n Heidi Gardner on \u201cWeekend Update\u201d with Colin Jost and Michael Che. Will Heath\/NBC<\/p>\n The 42-year-old was a staple on the sketch comedy series for the last eight seasons.<\/p>\n On Aug. 28, The Post confirmed that Gardner was leaving the show <\/a>amid the major cast shake-up<\/a> that has seen Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim also announce their exits<\/a>. Five newcomers have since joined Season 51.<\/p>\n Gardner, unlike the trio, has not publicly addressed her departure.<\/p>\n Gardner at the \u201cSNL\u201d FYC 2025 event in North Hollywood, Calif. on June 2. Todd Williamson\/NBC via Getty Images<\/p>\n Gardner at the \u201cDeath of a Unicorn\u201d screening in New York in March. WireImage<\/p>\n Dana Carvey, who returned to \u201cSNL\u201d last season to play Joe Biden, shared intel about Gardner\u2019s exit <\/a>from the show on Wednesday\u2019s episode of his \u201cFly on the Wall\u201d podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I know as of this recording, that it was not her idea to leave,\u201d Carvey, 70, told his co-host and \u201cSNL\u201d alum David Spade.<\/p>\n \u201cI could be wrong about that,\u201d Carvey added, \u201cbut that\u2019s what I read.\u201d<\/p>\n After Spade, 61, said he finds it \u201ca little shocking\u201d that \u201cSNL\u201d would fire Gardner, Carvey admitted he was \u201creally surprised\u201d when he heard she was off the show.<\/p>\n \u201cI think she\u2019s got a likability,\u201d Carvey noted. \u201cShe can play real, straight news woman, she can play big, brawn, funny, physical. So I was surprised by that.\u201d<\/p>\n Walton Goggins and Gardner on \u201cSNL.\u201d Will Heath\/NBC via Getty Images<\/p>\n Gardner in an \u201cSNL\u201d skit from April 2018. NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Gardner was the longest-tenured woman on \u201cSNL\u201d as of Season 50<\/a>. She joined the show during Season 43 as a featured player before being promoted to the main cast in 2019.<\/p>\n Some of Gardner\u2019s most memorable characters included teen movie critic Bailey Gismert, Brie Bacardi\u00a0from the \u201cannoying Instagram couple,\u201d Goop employee\u00a0Baskin Johns, and Angel, \u201cevery boxer\u2019s girlfriend from every movie about boxing ever.\u201d<\/p>\n She impersonated multiple stars including Kim Kardashian, Drew Barrymore and Liz Cheney.<\/p>\n One of Gardner\u2019s biggest \u201cSNL\u201d moments happened last year when she broke character during the infamous \u201cBeavis and Butt-Head\u201d sketch<\/a> starring Ryan Gosling.<\/p>\n Gardner at the 2025 Big Slick Weekend in Kansas City. Getty Images<\/p>\n Gardner and Chance The Rapper on \u201cSNL\u201d in 2017. NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Gardner during the \u201cBeavis and Butt-Head\u201d sketch. Saturday Night Live<\/p>\n In the April 2024 skit<\/a>, Gardner played a news anchor leading a town hall, and couldn\u2019t keep her composure over two audience members (played by Gosling and Mikey Day) who looked just like the \u201990s cartoon characters.<\/p>\n \u201cI just couldn\u2019t prepare for what I saw,\u201d\u00a0she told Vulture<\/a> in an interview after the sketch went viral. \u201cI really tried. I even saw Mikey out of the corner of my eye seconds before I went live. I saw the red shorts. I knew I couldn\u2019t look over there again. Mikey even told me later that he was bending down and hiding himself so I wouldn\u2019t see him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thinking about it right now and laughing. I recovered and tried to tell myself in between dress and the live show, \u2018You can\u2019t laugh like that again.\u2019 I was trying to imagine seeing him in my head so I was prepared for it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Gardner at an FYC event for \u201cSNL\u201d in June. Todd Williamson\/NBC via Getty Images<\/p>\n