Saturday Night Live announced the first run of hosts and musical guests last week as it amps up to return for the 47th season on October 2nd and the lineup does not disappoint.
Kacey Musgraves and Halsey will grace the stage as music guest on October 2nd and 9th, respectively, fresh off of new album releases this summer with Young Thug and Brandi Carlile joining the show for the October 16th and 23rd episodes.
The big names don't stop there, Owen Wilson, Kim Kardashian West, Rami Malek, and former SNL player Jason Sudeikis all take on hosting duties next month as well.
Following the announcement of the star studded hosting lineup, today the show revealed which cast members would be returning, leaving, and joining the show.
Beck Bennett, famous for his impressions of Vladamir Putin and former Vice President Mike Pence, is leaving the show after 8 seasons. He shot to mainstream recognition after a series of AT&T commercials in 2013.
Bennett, along with featured player Lauren Holt, are the only ones to depart this season. The shows "power players" Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kenan Thompson, all of whom have hinted at the possibility of leaving, have all signed on to continue through season 47.
Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, and Melissa Villaseñor all stay as well.
Notable featured player Bowen Yang, co-host of iHeartRadio's Las Culturistas podcast, along with Chloe Fineman have been promoted to repertory players and join the main cast.
Along with those promotions, the show welcomes 3 new featured players to the ensemble!
Bennett shared a farewell post on Instagram Monday afternoon celebrating some of his favorite moments from seasons past.