“SNL” has added three new cast members for its upcoming 50th season.
Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline have joined the NBC late night show as featured players for “Saturday Night Live” for their first season. “SNL” returns Sept. 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT, and will culminate with a primetime special celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Padilla joins “SNL” after being a member of The Groundlings’ main company since 2021, while Wickline can be seen as a cast member on TikTok’s live show, “Stapleview.” Wakim has previously performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and was selected as a New Face of Comedy at the 2022 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.
As the new recruits come on board, Chloe Troast announced she would not be returning after joining for Season 49, writing in a Monday social media post, “Unfortunately, I was not asked back to ‘SNL’ this season.”
“I wish I was going to be with all the amazing friends I made there, it truly felt like home,” Troast wrote. “But it wasn’t in the cards.”
The news comes a month after cast members Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney announced they would also be departing the show ahead of Season 50.
Johnson, who started as a featured player in 2020 and was upped to repertory status in 2022, broke the news during her own live comedy set, assuring fans that “it’s not bad blood, it’s no bridges burned.”
“Y’all that’s a wrap on my time on ‘SNL’! Reflecting on the amazing two seasons I got on this show, it was such a dream come true. So incredibly grateful for this period in my life,” Kearney wrote on Instagram while sharing their exit. “So much love to all my big-hearted buddies behind the scenes who make the magic happen every week. So many bald caps, so little time. It was a true honor to work with such a talented group of writers and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CAST.”
“Saturday Night Live” Season 50 premieres Sept. 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m on NBC and Peacock.
