She was also the voice of Toad
The release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder in 2023 marked a new era for the character, with the legendary voice actor Charles Martinet officially replaced by Kevin Afghani as Mario. It led to questions at the time about what other voices might be swapped out in the future.
While Peach’s voice actor Samatha Kelly returned in Princess Peach: Showtime! the following year, it seems she’s now been replaced after 18 years. This also includes her role as Toad. According to a post on her Instagram account, the voice actor found out yesterday after Mario Kart World had been released.
Samantha Kelly: “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. 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 #princesspeach #toad”
Although Kelly was in the role for nearly two decades (and voiced various other Mario characters during this time) her departure has obviously been far less public than Charles Martinet, who was given an official send-off by Nintendo and crowed the title of “Mario Ambassador” – going on to promote the character at events.
In some other news, it appears Takashi Nagasako is also reportedly no longer voicing Donkey Kong after 20 years. You can see the latest Mario voice actor update in Mario Kart World’s credits.
If we hear any significant developments, we’ll let you know.
[source eurogamer.net]
Liam is a news writer and reviewer across Hookshot Media. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of many iconic video game characters.
