Following the major success of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season, everyone is wondering: Who will be part of the cast for SNL season 51? Will Lorne Michaels avoid making any changes, like he did ahead of season 50? And while fans don’t know fate of all the main cast members and featured players yet, we do know that the cast will look veeeery different this season.
Of the 14 main cast members and three featured players who starred in the 50th season, four people have already announced their exit…and chances are, we can expect more to come. Let’s get into what we know about the cast of SNL 51 so far. But first:
When does Saturday Night Live season 51 premiere?
SNL 51 premieres on October 4 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and it will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
Which Saturday Night Live cast members have exited ahead of season 51?
Lorne promised big changes for this season, and we’ve already gotten several of ’em. Starting with…
Most recently, on August 29, Variety announced that core cast member Heidi Gardner would be leaving SNL after eight seasons, per multiple sources.
Michael Longfellow
On August 28, Deadline reported that Michael would be exiting after a three-season run. He later confirmed the news himself on Instagram.
“Will not be returning for a 4th season at SNL,” his caption began. “Wish I was but, so it goes. It was the best three years of my life so far. I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there.”
Emil Wakim
Next to announce his exit was featured player Emil, who shared on August 27 that he’d been fired after just one season.
“I won’t be returning to SNL next year,” he captioned his post, adding, “It was a gut punch of a call to get, but I’m so grateful for my time there.”
Devon Walker
Devon was the first season 50 member to announce his exit on August 25, telling his Instagram followers that he would not be returning for a fourth season.
“Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell,” he wrote, in part. “But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a fucked up lil family.”
Which Saturday Night Live cast members are returning for season 51?
So far, only one SNL 51 cast member has been confirmed: James Austin Johnson.
Lorne revealed to Puck News that he continue impersonating President Donald Trump in the upcoming season, but he didn’t reveal anything else about the cast…other than the fact that there would be “a significant shake-up, with several current cast members expected to exit.”
Therefore, viewers are still waiting to learn the fates of the other main cast members: Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang.
It’s also still unknown whether featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline are set to return to Studio 8H this fall, but we’ll let you know more info as we have it!
