Beck Bennett is saying goodbye to Saturday Night Live. The comedian, 36, announced on Sept. 27 that he will not return to the NBC sketch comedy series when it comes back for its 47th season in Oct. 2021. He shared the news via Instagram, along with photos from his time on the show. He also wrote a lengthy message, citing some of his favorite memories of being a cast member, which were shown in each of the images.
“Love you, SNL,” Beck wrote. “Gonna miss you so much. Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life. I had so much fun.” Some of Beck’s memorable moments included the finale of his first season, time spent with the team who helped him get ready for each show, seeing the audience at the end of the show and being in the writer’s room before Saturday morning meetings.
Additionally, Lauren Holt, who was a featured cast member in season 46, will not be coming back for a second run. These announcements come after the show’s season 46 finale hinted at the possibility of some cast members exiting in the spring of 2021. Fellow longtime cast members Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, and Pete Davidson delivered reflective and emotional monologues about the past year that suggested the end was nigh.
However, NBC confirmed on Sept. 27 that Aidy, Michael Che, Pete, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily, Kenan , Melissa Villasenor, Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang are all set to return in some capacity. There will also be three new featured comedians on the show: Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman.
As HollywoodLife previously reported EXCLUSIVELY, SNL creator Lorne Michaels wanted the entire cast to return for “at least” another year in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID has been tough for many, but has been very tough for SNL,” the source told HL.
“The usual auditions and seeing people in comedy clubs for Lorne to [determine] if anyone would be good for the show has had some interesting stumbling blocks, so as next season returns, Lorne has told all the cast from last year that he would like for them all to return,” the source continued.
Both Lorne and NBC had been hopeful the the usual players would return and “things would stay the same.” But, of course, the team recognized that that wouldn’t be totally plausible, “Because when people want to leave, they will leave,” our source said. Season 47 of SNL premieres on October 2.