'SNL' Veteran Heidi Gardner Has Split with Her Husband of 14 Years

A lot is going on in this story that is news to me. For instance, did you know that Heidi Gardner has been married for 14 years? How is that possible? Did she get married when she was 18? No. Heidi Gardner is 40 years old. Heidi Gardner is also somehow the longest-serving female SNL cast member. She’s been there since 2017. What is time?

I also learned today that she was married to Zeb Wells. That doesn’t mean much to me, but many may know him as a comic-book writer best known for breaking up Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man comics. It did not make him popular with fans. Also, he was a writer, director, and voice actor for Robot Chicken.

He and Gardner split up in 2023, and Gardner — without naming him — discussed her break-up at length on The Liz Moody Podcast.

“Sadly, I went through the end of a relationship, which it feels weird to say ‘end’ because I also know that person will always be in my life, and it will transform in a different way,” Gardner said on the podcast. “You know, sending them all the, like, love and respect in the world that I still have for them. But it was just a couple-year period of transition and grief and hope and loss and all of those things.”

“But I will say that during that time I feel like I never wasted a day in getting to know myself, becoming a better version of myself, and becoming a better friend and future partner, I think.”

She also found that, through a “very painful and uncomfortable” divorce, she was able to “lean on the women” in her life. Because they showed up for her, she has learned how valuable it is to show up for them during their times of need.

“But I always like to provide a safe space for my friends where yeah, I let them know I’m team you and if you are team, that person, your partner, I’m gonna be on their team too if they’re loving you,” she said. “So I always like to create a safe space, so no one ever feels shame if they were just like throwing their partner under the bus one day and then they’re, like, ‘But today is sweet.’”

I hope that this brilliantly funny SNL sketch is not based on Gardner’s marriage.

Source: The Liz Moody Podcast via US Magazine