A longtime Saturday Night Live star is leaving the show amid a major casting shakeup that has left fans of the iconic sketch comedy series shocked.
Daily Mail can confirm that Heidi Gardner has exited the show after an impressive eight-season run as furious viewers called for the show to be cancelled amid the ongoing cast exodus.
The news of the 42-year-old comedian’s exit comes shortly after it was revealed that cast members Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker would not be returning for season 51 on NBC.
Daily Mail has reached out to Gardner’s reps for comment.
Gardner joined SNL in 2017 during season 43 as a featured player along with now-former SNL stars Luke Null and Chris Redd. She was promoted to main cast two years later.
Since then, the Missouri-born actress has written and starred in countless iconic SNL sketches.
A longtime Saturday Night Live star is leaving the show amid a string of high-profile departures that have left fans shocked
She is best known for creating the hilarious character Bailey Gismert, a teen movie critic, who often appeared during SNL’s Weekend Update segments.
Gardner also impersonated a number of high-profile celebrities during her eight years on SNL, including Reba McEntire, Oscar-winner Mikey Madison and Kim Kardashian.
Confirmation of Gardner’s exit comes after she seemingly hinted at leaving the show that kickstarted her Hollywood career earlier this year.
While appearing on Craig Ferguson’s Joy podcast, she admitted that things behind the scenes at SNL had gotten ‘a little tough’ and that was feeling fatigued.
‘I will say the only thing that I’ve started to feel a little bit is just sketch fatigue, or idea fatigue,’ she told Ferguson at the time.
‘At this point, after doing Groundlings and SNL for so long, I’m like, “I’ve written a lot of sketches.”
Gardner’s shock departure evoked a strong reaction from SNL fans on social media — with some declaring that the show cancellation ahead of season 51.
‘i think we should cancel snl at this point like what’s even the point since we’re getting rid of so much talent already,’ one frustrated fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Another speculated that SNL’s mass exodus could be due to a cut back on production costs as they called for NBC to ‘just cancel SNL already.’
Daily Mail can confirm that Heidi Gardner has exited the iconic sketch comedy series after an impressive eight-season run; seen in February
Gardner’s shock departure evoked a strong reaction from SNL fans on social media — with some even calling for the show’s cancellation ahead of season 51