When it comes to Saturday Night Live, one of the sad inevitabilities of the show is that cast members eventually leave or are fired. The latter happened on a significant scale in 2025, as Heidi Gardner was let go alongside other cast members like Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim. Over the years, series alums have shared varied thoughts on being cut from the series. Such a dismissal can be painful for some, but at least one SNL veteran found that it ultimately brought upon a sense of relief.
Chloe Troast was fired from SNL in 2024 after having appeared as a cast member during the show’s 49th season. Since then, the comedic actress has continued to navigate Hollywood, though she still has vivid thoughts on having been shown the door by NBC’s iconic sketch comedy series. On the But Also Podcast, Troast recently discussed a myriad of topics, including Saturday Night Live. She mentioned having had a fun experience on the show but, apparently, one thing vastly “changed” the way she viewed the vibe at Studio 8H:
I say like, ‘Oh, I wasn’t scared of the authority or something like that. But then by the end, when I found out that I was like put on hold in the summer, like my whole brain changed. Like my whole being, my whole personality, I just became extremely fearful of everything. I just developed paranoia. I went from, ‘This is so cool, this is so fun. Wow, this is crazy. Oh my gosh, this is nuts,’ to being like, ‘Oh, that was all a test or something.’
Personally, I had no idea about the “hold” that series EP Lorne Michaels and co. can put on a star between deciding whether or not to pick them up for another season. I can understand how that would be nerve-wracking in some sense. When Troast initially spoke out about her termination in 2024, she made jokes but also got real about the specific experience of being let go from SNL. While speaking on the podcast (which is on YouTube), Troast opened up about the sense of peace she felt after learning her professional fate:
There was a type of psychic experience of when something like that happens, and you go like, ‘They’re not gonna take me back.’ Or like, ‘I’m getting fired,’ or whatever, and then when it does happen, you’re like, ‘I knew it.’ And there’s some type of relief in that. And, definitely, when I finally got that piece of news, I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t then have to walk into a place that I was now deeply scared of. Like, it changed the place for me entirely. There was a deep sense of dread and anxiety thinking I would have to step back in that workplace and engage with the same people that I now had a completely different relationship with.
It’s interesting to hear the various takes on what it’s like to be fired from the show. Last year, Devon Walker discussed his exit and opined that he was ultimately ready to leave as well. Meanwhile, Michael Longfellow’s firing was a bit awkward for him due to the public nature of the news. Chloe Troast alluded to that level of public knowledge during her own interview, though she also made note of the support she received after her time on the show came to an end:
Because I got so close with all of the writers and cast members and stuff, I never felt so like held by a group of people because I couldn’t say anything to people outside of the network of the show. So the public didn’t know, and friends didn’t really know. And so then I got this influx of calls from everyone inside [which] was amazing of just…. it almost made a lot of us closer, at least for me, my relationship to them [was] closer because they were so kind and supportive and had my back and wanted to see me, wanted to hang out, wanted to do shows, like same old, same old in that way.
SNL stars do indeed seem supportive whenever someone leaves the show intentionally or involuntarily. For instance, it’s hard to forget when Yang paid tribute to Gardner and more after they were let go over a year ago. Losing a job is rarely ever easy, though it’s comforting to hear Chloe Troast talk about getting her peace of mind when leaving the hallowed halls of 30 Rock.
Check out new episodes of Saturday Night Live when they air at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC amid the 2026 TV schedule, and they can be streamed as well with a Peacock subscription.
