Long-time Princess Peach and Toad voice actor Samantha Kelly has confirmed that she’ll no longer be playing the characters in Nintendo’s games.
Kelly first voiced Peach in the 2007 Wii game Mario Strikers Charged and has continued to provide the character’s voice in the years since, including for 2024’sPrincess Peach Showtime.
Writing onInstagramon Friday, Kelly saidNintendoinformed her this week of its decision to recast the roles of Peach and Toad, who she had also voiced for many years.
“Thank you for so many years of friendship and joy. I’m sad that it’s over, I truly would have wanted to voice Peach and Toad forever. Nintendo let me know yesterday that they decided to recast these roles,” she wrote.
“I’m grateful that I got to do these voices for so many years. Peach and Toad are such strong and beautiful characters that I pray they live forever no matter who voices them. So much love.”
According to Kelly, Nintendo gave her the recasting news on the same day that it releasedSwitch 2and the console’s flagship launch title,Mario Kart World.
In August 2023, Nintendo announced that Charles Martinet – who had voiced Mario for over 25 years –would be stepping down from voice acting dutiesand instead take on a new Mario Ambassador role.
Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that LA-based voice actorKevin Afghani had assumed the role of Marioand Luigi for the upcomingSuper Mario Bros. Wonder.
