{"id":1592,"date":"2025-08-29T00:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viraltales.us\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2025-08-29T00:44:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:44:12","slug":"heidi-gardner-leaving-snl-after-8-years-as-lorne-michaels-season-51-bloodbath-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viraltales.us\/?p=1592","title":{"rendered":"Heidi Gardner leaving \u2018SNL\u2019 after 8 years as Lorne Michaels\u2019 Season 51 bloodbath continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Heidi Gardner is leaving \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201dThe comedian, 42, is the latest cast member to exit the show ahead of Season 51, The Post can confirm.12<\/strong><\/a>Gardner during the 2025 Big Slick Party and Show in Kansas City on May 31, 2025.Gardner was the longest-tenured current female cast member last season after joining the sketch comedy show during Season 43 before being promoted to the main cast in 2019.Some of her most memorable \u201cWeekend Update\u201d characters include teen movie critic Bailey Gismert and Angel, \u201cevery boxer\u2019s girlfriend from every movie about boxing ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of her biggest moments last year was when she cracked as NewsNation host Bobbi More during a sketch of \u201cBeavis and Butt-Head\u201d that immediately went viral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The cast of \u201cSNL\u201d saying goodnight alongside Kacey Musgraves, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell during Season 49.Will Heath\/NBC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gardner\u2019s departure makes her the fourth comedian to exit the series this week, behind Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker, following Lorne Michaels\u2019 promise of a massive cast shakeup.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Post reached out to Gardner\u2019s rep and \u201cSNL\u201d for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of recent years, the star has branched out from the comedy scene, starring alongside Harrison Ford and Jason Segel as Grace in \u201cShrinking\u201d for Seasons 1 and 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Scarlett<\/a>
Scarlett Johansson and the \u201cSNL\u201d cast during a Season 50 monologue.Will Heath\/NBC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Heidi<\/a>
Heidi Gardner, Eddie Murphy, and Cecily Strong on \u201cSNL\u201d in a holiday baking competition sketch.Will Heath\/NBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She also appeared in an episode of Netflix\u2019s \u201cYou\u201d during its final season, the sitcom \u201cGirls5eva\u201d and Adam Sandler\u2019s 2022 basketball movie \u201cHustle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Gardner hinted at her possible exit while speaking to comedian Craig Ferguson on his podcast, \u201cJoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the episode, she admitted that the job had become a \u201clittle tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Heidi<\/a>
Gardner during the 2025 Big Slick Party and Show in Kansas City on May 31, 2025.Stephen Lovekin\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
Gardner and her fellow Season 50 cast members pose together for a classy \u201cSNL\u201d group photo.Mary Ellen Matthews\/NBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will say the only thing that I\u2019ve started to feel a little bit is just sketch fatigue, or idea fatigue,\u201d the star explained. \u201cAt this point, after doing Groundlings and SNL for so long, I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019ve written a lot of sketches.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours before Gardner\u2019s departure, The Post confirmed that Michael Longfellow would also be leaving<\/a> \u201cSNL\u201d after his three-year tenure on the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He joined the NBC sketch comedy program in 2022 for Season 48 before being upped to the main cast for Season 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Longfellow\u2019s \u201cSNL\u201d departure was revealed just hours before Gardner\u2019s.Mary Ellen Matthews\/NBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like Gardner, the 31-year-old comedian has yet to confirm his departure himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longfellow and Gardner\u2019s former co-stars Devon Walker and Emil Wakim, meanwhile, confirmed their exits from the show earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker, 34, announced his departure<\/a> on Monday night after three seasons. Like Longfellow, he joined the cast as a featured player in 2022 and was promoted to the main cast in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Devon<\/a>
Devon Walker attends \u201cSNL50: The Anniversary Special\u201d at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City on February 16, 2025.WireImage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool,\u201d he wrote on Instagram<\/a> on Monday night. \u201cSometimes it was toxic as hell. But we \u2026 made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f\u2013ked up lil family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wakim, an \u201cSNL\u201d newcomer who was only on the show for a single season, said in his own Instagram post on Wednesday that being let go \u201cwas a gut punch of a call to get.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life,\u201d he added, \u201cand I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Emil<\/a>
Emil Wakim attends the Lingua Franca fashion show during New York Fashion Week on February 04, 2025.Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Writers Celeste Yim and Rosebud Baker, too, have revealed their exits from the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yim, who joined the \u201cgrueling\u201d program five years ago, was the first to announce their departure<\/a> over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter five seasons, I\u2019m leaving my job at Saturday Night Live,\u201d they wrote on Instagram<\/a> on Sunday.The surprising and ongoing \u201cSNL\u201d exodus kicked off shortly after Michaels hinted at the cast changes<\/a> in an interview with Puck News<\/a> published Friday, Aug. 22<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heidi Gardner is leaving \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201dThe comedian, 42, is the latest cast member to exit the show ahead of Season 51, The Post can confirm.12Gardner during the 2025 Big Slick Party…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-trends"],"yoast_head":"\nHeidi Gardner leaving \u2018SNL\u2019 after 8 years as Lorne Michaels\u2019 Season 51 bloodbath continues - Viral Tales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/viraltales.us\/?p=1592\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heidi Gardner leaving \u2018SNL\u2019 after 8 years as Lorne Michaels\u2019 Season 51 bloodbath continues - 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