After replacing Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario back in 2023, Nintendo’s recasting spree continues. Samantha Kelly has confirmed she’s been ditched as the voice of Princess Peach and Toad after 18 years – but she wasn’t informed by Nintendo until yesterday, when Mario Kart World released onto Switch 2 without her in the roles.
Kelly has portrayed Princess Peach since 2007’s Mario Strikers Charged on Wii, and her voice has featured in over 50 Mario titles since then, culminating in last year’s Mario & Luigi: Brothership. However, she doesn’t appear in Nintendo’s latest Mario title, Mario Kart World, and Kelly has now confirmed she only found out she’d been replaced after its arrival.
“Nintendo let me know yesterday that they decided to recast these roles,” Kelly explained in an Instagram post shared earlier today. “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… 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.”
Kelly’s recasting mirrors Nintendo’s decision to replace much-loved voice actor Charles Martinet back in 2023, after he’d portrayed the likes of Mario, Luigi, and Wario for over three decades. At the time, it said the decision was made “after carefully considering a variety of factors”, but unlike Kelly, Martinet was given a public send-off and crowned Mario Ambassador. However, Martinet later admitted he didn’t know “anything” about the Mario Ambassador role. “I will learn,” he said elsewhere, “we’ll all learn what exactly that is.”
Following Martinet’s departure, Nintendo dodged questions about his replacement until Kevin Afghani announced he’d taken over the role shortly before the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Afghani is again credited in Mario Kart World, but it’s unclear who is now portraying Princess Peach and Toad. Additionally, Takashi Nagasako, who had previously voiced Donkey Kong for over 20 years, is missing from Mario Kart World’s credits.