Ego Nwodim is the latest — and perhaps last — high-profile departure from Saturday Night Live, as the long-running sketch show has seen a cast shakeup ahead of its 51st season.
Nwodim announced Friday on Instagram that she would not be returning — and suggested she’d have more time now to attend weddings. Nwodim joined as a feature player in 2018, and was promoted two years later.
“The hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight,” Nwodim said in her post. “But after seven unforgettable seasons, I have decided to leave SNL.”
She thanked show creator Lorne Michaels for the opportunity, and her castmates, writers and crew “for their brilliance, support and friendship.”
“Week after week on that stage taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and I will carry those memories (and that laughter) with me always,” Nwodim wrote. “Now invite me to your weddings please!!!” she added.
Representatives for the NBC show declined CBC News’s request to comment further on Nwodim’s departure.
This comes days after Hollywood trade outlets reported the Season 51 cast — which had included her — was finalized.
Five new cast members are joining the upcoming season, which premieres Oct. 4.
Ben Marshall, already an SNL writer, will become a featured player, along with newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska (the only Canadian of the bunch, originally from Barrie, Ont.), NBC announced last week.
Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow confirmed last month on their social media accounts they are leaving the show. Multiple news outlets reported cast mainstay Heidi Gardner was also departing the show, but neither Gardner nor NBC has publicly confirmed.
Michaels previously said he anticipated changes following the show’s historic 50th season. No cast members had announced their departure following the season’s conclusion. In an interview with Puck that ran earlier this summer, Michaels answered “yes” when asked if he expected to “shake things up.”
Michaels told Puck at least one cast member was certain to be back: James Austin Johnson, who plays U.S. President Donald Trump.
Since its debut in 1975, the NBC program has reinvented itself often, with performers over the past 50 years ranging from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson.
