Fans of the late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live were taken by surprise more than once during the seasonal vacation this year when cast members both long and short-term left the show. Melissa Villaseor, who had been a mainstay on the programme for six seasons and appeared in many sketches each week, left as part of the “mass SNL exodus.” The comic explained her decision to leave the NBC flagship show in an interview with the Last Laugh podcast from The Daily Beast. We can’t help but wonder if there was some sort of backstage drama involved whenever a longtime cast member abruptly leaves, but Villaseor assured us that the atmosphere at SNL is friendly.
She admitted that she made the decision to resign since she is an introvert and the pressure of performing in front of an audience didn’t sit well with her: “I made the call. During the summer, I allowed myself plenty of time to meditate on the situation and run potential outcomes through my mind. It all came down to how my mind was doing. I experienced a few panic attacks throughout the previous season. I felt like I was about to fall over a cliff every week; I was having a hard time. I told myself, “I just don’t want to do it to myself anymore.” […] Worrying about “where I fit” in society makes me anxious. I don’t know what to do! To my mind, that’s the root of the problem. Something inside me told me it was time for us to part ways. It was really difficult because I care deeply about Lorne [Michaels, the show’s longtime producer] and I owe a great debt of gratitude to the cast and crew of the show for the opportunity to work with them. I always imagined me here. As a youngster, this was my one and only wish. I’ll be forever grateful that I got to see that.
Fan favourites Chris Redd, Alex Moffat, and Aristotle Athari, as well as Villaseor, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney, have confirmed their departures for the year 2022. Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker have taken their places. Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick), Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Megan Thee Stallion have all hosted thus far in Season 48 of SNL, which debuted earlier this month (She-Hulk: Attorney At Law). Jack Harlow, a rapper, will serve double duty this week as the show’s host and musical guest.