Melissa Villaseñor Confirms ‘SNL’ Exit Ahead Of Season 48: ‘What An Honor To Experience My Kid Dream’

After rumors began last week that Melissa Villaseñor, along with other cast members Alex Moffat and Aristotle Athari, is also leaving Saturday Night Live ahead of its 48th season premiere, she confirmed the news on Twitter.

This continues the cast shakeup that began this past spring, where veteran cast members Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney all left the show.

Villaseñor was only the second Latina woman to ever join the cast of the iconic sketch series, after Noël Wells, who is one-quarter Mexican.

She was a noted impressionist before even joining SNL, doing impressions on America’s Got Talent which got her to a semifinalist spot, and developing a following on YouTube with her comedic sketches and impression skills.

She told fans on Twitter that “this was my soul telling me it’s time to spread my wings. Lots more for me to dig in and discover.”

She referred to her five-season tenure on SNL as “my kid dream.” Villaseñor’s most notable impressions on SNL included Björk, Owen Wilson, Miley Cyrus and Macauley Culkin.

Saturday Night Live has yet to announce the season 48 premiere date. They could be gearing up for an October premiere, and we may hear news of some replacement cast announcements coming up as auditions were certainly happening over the summer to replace the big holes in the cast.