Lorne Michaels Addresses ‘SNL’ Season 51 Cast Shakeup: ‘Change Is Good’

The show must go on!

Lorne Michaels opened up about the news that six cast members are departing Saturday Night Live ahead of its 51st season in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Emmys on Sunday, September 14.

“It’s always hard when people leave, but there’s a time for that,” the show’s creator, 80, said. “Change is good.”

As the National Enquirer has reported, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner and John Higgins will not be returning. In a surprise announcement on Friday, September 12, Ego Nwodim announced in an Instagram post that she had decided to leave as well, adding that she was “immensely grateful” to Michaels “for the opportunity.”

“She was great,” Michaels told ET of Nwodim.

So far, the departing stars have been replaced with four new cast members: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska. Please Don’t Destroy’s Ben Marshall, who joined the series as a writer for their digital videos in 2021, has also been promoted to the main cast.

“The show has always brought people from different ages and different generations and it’s how it revives itself,” Michaels, who took home the Emmy for Best Variety Special, told ET. “Our audience has always stayed relatively young, and more so now with TikTok.”

Slowikowska, in particular, rose to popularity as a TikToker. “The people we’re bringing in,” Michaels added, “I’m really excited about.”

Not all of the faces will be new. As the Enquirer previously reported, Michael Che and Colin Jost will be back hosting Weekend Update, while Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline will be back, along with longest running cast member of all time, Kenan Thompson, who will be in his 23rd season.

Saturday Night Live season 51 will premiere on October 4.