Princess Peach’s voice actor of 18 years confirms she’s been replaced
Nintendo has recast the roles of Peach and Toad previously voiced by Samantha Kelly
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’s Princess Peach Showtime.
Writing on Instagram on Friday, Kelly said Nintendo informed 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 released Switch 2 and 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 duties and instead take on a new Mario Ambassador role.
Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that LA-based voice actor Kevin Afghani had assumed the role of Mario and Luigi for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
