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Saturday Night Live <\/em>will kick off Season 51 on Oct. 4 with host Bad Bunny and musical guest Doja Cat, after weeks of farewells from departing cast members and writers.<\/p>\n The long-running NBC variety show finally announced its full cast on Sept. 7, which will consist of 17 comedians, with 12 returning from Season 50 and five new featured players.<\/p>\n Michael Che and Colin Jost will return to cohost “Weekend Update,” and Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang are returning, alongside featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline, Deadline<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Days after the new season’s cast was announced, Ego Nwodim, who was included in the lineup, wrote on an Instagram Story<\/a> that she was leaving because “circumstances” had changed, leading her to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Nwodim joined SNL <\/em>for its 44th season in 2018 as a featured player before being promoted to the repertory ahead of the 46th season in 2020.<\/p>\n Cast shakeups are not uncommon between seasons of SNL<\/em>. Ahead of last season\u2019s Sept. 28, 2024, premiere, NBC announced<\/a> that Molly Kearney, Punkie Johnson and Chloe Troast would not be returning to the show, while Wickline, Padilla and Emil Wakim<\/a> would be joining the cast.<\/p>\n The comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, known for creating digital shorts on Saturday Night Live <\/em>over the last four seasons, will no longer produce pretaped sketches for the show starting this season, Variety reported<\/a> on Sept. 2. One group member, Ben Marshall, is now part of the show’s cast, while Martin Herlihy remains on the writing staff. John Higgins shared on Instagram<\/a> that he left the show entirely to pursue other acting projects.<\/p>\n Marshall is a featured player alongside new performers<\/a> Kam Patterson, Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan and Jeremy Culhane.<\/p>\n Multiple outlets reported<\/a> on Aug. 28 that Heidi Gardner was leaving Saturday Night Live<\/em> after eight seasons. The actress joined the late-night sketch show in 2017. Gardner, whose memorable characters include Bailey Gismert, a teenage film critic for “Weekend Update,” and Brie Bacardi, became the longest-tenured active female cast member during Season 50. The previous year, the Shrinking <\/em>star appeared in more sketches than her fellow castmates.<\/p>\n Gardner’s departure was revealed hours after Variety confirmed<\/a> that cast member Longfellow, who joined the popular NBC sketch show in Season 48 as a featured player, would be exiting after three seasons. Longfellow was known for making memorable appearances on “Weekend Update” segments and joking about timely topics such as Real ID and TikTok. The touring stand-up comic has also appeared in the movie Good Burger 2<\/em>. The news of his departure comes after LateNighter recently reported <\/a>he was screen-tested as a \u201cWeekend Update\u201d host back in May.<\/p>\nOther \u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019 departures ahead of Season 51<\/h2>\n