Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’? Here’s What We Know

Saturday Night Live has managed to stay fresh because of an ever-changing cast. At the end of every season, fans speculate on who they think could be leaving. Here are some names rumored to be exiting SNL before next season.

Pete Davidson

Pete Davidson’s perennially on the hot seat. The tabloid darling is already building a film career for himself, both as part of The Suicide Squad and as the lead in King of Staten Island. This week, Davidson made some revealing comments to the Hollywood Reporter that make his future on the program appear in doubt.

In response to a question about Kenan Thompson’s record 18th season, Davidson said “I’m surprised I made it to seven. I’m ready to hang up the jersey.” A few years ago, Davidson made similar comments about leaving the show, but he’s continued to stick around. Gossip Cop wouldn’t be surprised either way if Davidson chose to leave or stick around for one more year.

Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, And Cecily Strong

Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong have been the MVPs of SNL for years now. The close friends all debuted together, and could soon exit together. In the open of last week’s season finale, the three of them, along with Thompson, opened the show together as a send-off for a season raddled by COVID-19. Some are saying this is a send-off of sorts for the three.

In addition to this auspicious open, anonymous gossip tipster DeuxMoi has reported that McKinnon is definitely leaving the show, and we know she was teary-eyed at the after-party. McKinnon, Bryant, and Strong have all had illustrious tenures on the program at this point, so leaving together would almost feel like kismet.

Melissa Villaseñor

Just the second Latina cast member in the show’s history, Melissa Villaseñor has been on SNL since 2016 and just hit 100 episodes. She’s not received nearly the same amount of screentime as her colleagues on this list. She did receive praise from Dolly Parton for an impression though, and that’s worth its weight in gold.

Shortly after the season finale, Villaseñor posted a photo on Instagram saying she deserved better and would be leaving the show. She quickly deleted the video and said she regretted the whole post. As of now, Villaseñor herself doesn’t know if she’s leaving or not.

There’s a whole crop of new talent on SNL just chomping at the bit to get more screentime. If any of these players were to leave, that would mean new opportunities all around. Only time will tell who stays and who goes.