A new era is taking shape at Saturday Night Live, and Season 52 is arriving with a cast shake-up that has already caught attention. Two new performers are stepping into Studio 8H, while several recognisable names from the previous season are no longer on the roster.
NBCUniversal announced the latest additions on Sept. 16, just days before the Sept. 26 premiere. But behind the two new faces is a much bigger transition involving departures, promotions and a changing mix of established veterans and rising comedy talent.
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SNL Season 52 cast changes bring new featured players and major departures
The biggest headline is the arrival of Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter, who have joined Saturday Night Live as featured players.
Their casting comes after the departures of Chloe Fineman and Martin Herlihy, while Bowen Yang had already left the series midway through Season 51.
Fineman’s exit closes a seven-season chapter, while Herlihy is leaving after five seasons with the programme. His most recent season was spent on the writing staff after four seasons as part of the on-screen comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy.
At the same time, the show has promoted Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline to repertory players after they initially joined as featured players.
That gives Season 52 a particularly mixed roster: longtime SNL veterans remain, newer performers are moving up, and two completely new featured players are preparing for their first season at Studio 8H.
| Season 52 change | Performer | Official detail |
| New featured player | Saidah Belo-Osagie | Joins SNL for Season 52 |
| New featured player | Grace Reiter | Joins SNL for Season 52 |
| Departure | Chloe Fineman | Leaves after seven seasons |
| Departure | Martin Herlihy | Leaves after five seasons |
| Earlier departure | Bowen Yang | Left midway through Season 51 |
| Promotion | Ashley Padilla | Moves from featured player to repertory player |
| Promotion | Jane Wickline | Moves from featured player to repertory player |
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Saidah Belo-Osagie enters SNL after building her own comedy world
For Saidah Belo-Osagie, the move to SNL follows a career that has already stretched across comedy, filmmaking, live performance and social media.
According to NBCUniversal, Belo-Osagie is from Queens, New York. She previously wrote and directed the short film Tinge and created the event series Afrobeats Futura as well as the solo show Saidah Gets Closure.
Her online comedy has also helped establish her as a character-driven performer. Her sketches have included comedy about the language surrounding large-format movie theatres and an exaggerated yoga instructor.
When the casting news arrived, Belo-Osagie celebrated on social media. In an Instagram Stories post, she wrote:
“A DREAM COME TRUE”
She then added:
“See you on Saturdays chile.”
Belo-Osagie was among the performers who screen-tested for SNL after the programme held casting showcases in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago during the summer.
Her arrival also changes the show’s on-screen representation. After Ego Nwodim departed before Season 51, SNL went through the previous season without a Black woman among its cast members. Belo-Osagie’s casting brings a Black woman back into the regular cast for Season 52.
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Grace Reiter arrives with viral comedy and TV credits
Grace Reiter is the second new featured player joining the Season 52 cast, and her route to Studio 8H also reflects the growing importance of online comedy.
Originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Reiter has developed her career through online comedy, acting and writing.
NBCUniversal lists her credits as including the upcoming Netflix series Minimum Wage, HBO’s The Chair Company and the online parody The Hunger Games (but Better). Reiter also wrote and directed Minimum Wage.
Her connection to Minimum Wage is particularly notable. Netflix describes the series as an ensemble workplace comedy set inside a chaotic local pizza shop, with Reiter among the performers from the original American High Shorts ensemble.
The series is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on Oct. 26, 2026.
Reiter had also spoken about SNL as a career ambition before the casting opportunity became real. During a September 2025 interview with Elite Daily, she was asked about the possibility of joining the show.
Her answer was:
“We will see. It is all up to powers outside of my control.”
Now, that possibility has become reality.
The casting also prompted a message from Chloe Fineman, who is leaving SNL after seven seasons. Fineman welcomed Reiter on Instagram Stories, writing:
“Wooooo!!! Been a huge @gracereiter1 fan forever!!!”
Fineman added:
“From Syracuse to SNL baby!”
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Chloe Fineman’s seven-season SNL run comes to an end
Among the exits connected directly to Season 52, Chloe Fineman’s departure is the most prominent.
Fineman joined SNL in 2019 for Season 45 and became particularly known for her impressions and character work. Across seven seasons, she performed impressions of personalities including Jennifer Coolidge, Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears, Timothée Chalamet and JoJo Siwa.
In July 2026, Fineman announced that she was leaving the series.
She described her time on the programme as:
“the greatest privilege of my life”
She also acknowledged that walking away was difficult.
Her full farewell included:
“After 7 wonderful seasons at SNL I have decided it’s time for my next chapter.”
Fineman went on to describe the people at SNL as her family and Studio 8H as her home. She concluded:
“It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time. I’m going to miss it a lot. But the people who work there are my family and that place is my home, and I know I’ll never be too far away.”
Later, while promoting her film The Dink, Fineman discussed the decision publicly. She said she cried when the news of her departure became public because many people at SNL had become her “best friends.”
She also explained why she believed the timing was right:
“It’s good to leave on a positive,” Fineman said. “You don’t want to stay past your expiration date.”
Her television career will continue beyond SNL. Fineman has a post-SNL role in Netflix’s upcoming series Myron Bolitar, based on the mystery novels by Harlan Coben.
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Martin Herlihy leaves after five seasons
Martin Herlihy’s departure is another major change, although his relationship with SNL developed differently from Fineman’s.
Herlihy joined the show in 2021 as part of Please Don’t Destroy, the comedy trio he formed with Ben Marshall and John Higgins.
The group became known for its digital shorts and sketches, often appearing alongside SNL hosts and other members of the cast.
During Season 51, however, the trio’s relationship with the programme changed. Ben Marshall was promoted to the featured cast, John Higgins left the series, and Herlihy moved to the writing staff.
Herlihy still appeared on screen occasionally during Season 51, including in sketches such as “Blowing It” and “Green Flags”, as well as pieces presented under the title “A Film by Martin Herlihy.”
His departure was reported in September 2026, making him the second major exit ahead of Season 52 after Fineman.
Variety reported that NBC declined to comment on Herlihy’s departure. Herlihy himself has not issued a public statement explaining why he left.
Please Don’t Destroy, meanwhile, continues outside the show. Herlihy, Marshall and Higgins remain an active comedy trio and have continued performing and pursuing projects together.
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Bowen Yang’s earlier exit adds another layer to the Season 52 transition
The Season 52 cast changes began before Fineman and Herlihy departed.
Bowen Yang left SNL midway through Season 51, meaning his exit happened before the departures of Fineman and Herlihy and before Belo-Osagie and Reiter were announced as new cast members.
Yang joined the show alongside Fineman for Season 45 and became one of its most recognisable performers. He is not returning for Season 52.
Taken together, the exits mean three recognisable names from the previous season — Yang, Fineman and Herlihy — are no longer part of the Season 52 lineup.
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SNL promotions and returning cast shape the new roster
Season 52 is not simply about who has left. Two performers who previously arrived as featured players have now moved into the repertory cast.
Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline have been promoted to repertory players for Season 52.
Meanwhile, the returning cast includes some of the show’s most established names.
NBCUniversal’s announced returning cast includes Kenan Thompson, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Marcello Hernández, James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, alongside other returning players.
The featured-player group includes Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska, with Padilla and Wickline moving into the repertory cast.
The result is a Season 52 lineup combining long-running SNL veterans with performers still relatively early in their time at Studio 8H.
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Lorne Michaels previously described SNL cast turnover as part of its evolution
The latest changes also echo comments SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels made during the previous season’s much larger casting shake-up.
In September 2025, Michaels spoke with Entertainment Tonight at the Emmy Awards about departures and new additions.
He said:
“The show has always brought people in from different ages and different generations and it’s how it revives itself,”
Michaels continued:
“It’s always hard when people leave, but there’s a time for that and our audience has always stayed relatively young, and more so now with TikTok.”
He then added:
“Change is good. The people we’re bringing in, I’m really excited about.”
Those comments were made during the larger Season 51 roster overhaul rather than specifically in response to the Season 52 changes. They nevertheless provide context for the show’s longstanding approach to cast turnover.
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When does SNL Season 52 premiere?
The new season officially begins on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, on NBC.
Jalen Brunson is scheduled to host the season premiere, marking his first time hosting the programme, while KATSEYE will serve as musical guest.
The early Season 52 schedule continues with Dakota Johnson hosting on Oct. 3 with Turnstile as musical guest. Shane Gillis is then scheduled to host on Oct. 10, with Rosalía as musical guest.
The Halloween episode is scheduled for Oct. 31, with Inde Navarrette hosting and Gracie Abrams serving as musical guest.
With Belo-Osagie and Reiter joining, Padilla and Wickline moving into the repertory cast, and Yang, Fineman and Herlihy no longer on the roster, Season 52 starts another significant transition for one of television’s longest-running comedy institutions.
The two newcomers also bring distinctly different routes into SNL. Belo-Osagie arrives with live comedy, filmmaking and character work, while Reiter comes from online comedy, television acting and writing. Both now have their first season at Studio 8H ahead of them.
Conclusion
Season 52 is opening with more than two new faces. The arrival of Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter, the promotions of Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline, and the departures of Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman and Martin Herlihy mark a notable shift in the Saturday Night Live roster.
With established performers still anchoring the cast and a new generation moving into bigger roles, the Sept. 26 premiere will introduce audiences to the latest version of the Studio 8H lineup — with Jalen Brunson hosting and KATSEYE performing.
More Fall Premiere Countdowns: Season premieres keep lining up across the TV calendar as fall approaches. For more, read our story on Crystal Lake finally setting its Peacock premiere date, with Pamela Voorhees taking Friday the 13th somewhere darker.
Source/research disclaimer: This article has been prepared from the publicly available information, announcements, reporting, interviews and source material provided for this story, including information from NBCUniversal, PEOPLE, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, LateNighter, Netflix Tudum and other cited publications. It reflects information available as of September 20, 2026. Cast memberships, schedules and upcoming projects can change, and descriptions of performers’ careers are based on publicly reported credits and statements. The article does not imply independent verification beyond the information supported by the provided sources.
Sources
- NBCUniversal — SNL Announces Two New Cast Members for Season 52
- PEOPLE — See the Comedians Who Are Joining (and Leaving!) SNL Season 52
- Variety — Martin Herlihy Exits SNL After Five Seasons
- Variety — Chloe Fineman Leaves SNL After 7 Seasons
- Entertainment Weekly — SNL Season 52 Adds Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter
- The Hollywood Reporter — SNL Adds Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter as Featured Players
- LateNighter — SNL Adds Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter to Season 52
- Netflix Tudum — Minimum Wage: News, Photos, Cast and Release Date
- Variety — Lorne Michaels on SNL Cast Shake-Up: Change Is Good
Featured Image Credit: Instagram nbcsnl / applesaidur / gracereiter1
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