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Why is Joe leaving Impractical Jokers?

Impractical Jokers: Joe Gatto

Joe Gatto announced that he is leaving Impractical Jokers to focus on his family, following his divorce from his wife, Bessy Gatto.

Impractical Jokers has been one of the longest running cable television shows, which first premiered on truTV in 2011.

Since then, the family-friendly, candid camera and prank reality format show has become the channel’s flagship show due to the continued growth of its fan base.

The show has a total of nine seasons currently. Real-life friends, Joe Gatto, James ‘Murr’ Murray, Brian ‘Q’ Quinn, and Sal Vulcano were all at the helm of the show.

But with the upcoming tenth season, Joe will not be a part of the show as he is taking time off to deal with a personal matter.

What is Impractical Jokers?

Currently set to air its milestone tenth season, Impractical Jokers is considered one of the longest running cable shows on television, as it first premiered on truTV in December 2011.

With the show considered a more family-friendly version of what similar show, Jackass was, Impractical Jokers has become one of truTV’s flagship shows.

The premise of the show is, “Comedians Joe Gatto, James ‘Murr’ Murray, Brian ‘Q’ Quinn, and Sal Vulcano are real-life best friends who love challenging each other to the most outrageous dares and stunts ever caught on hidden camera.”

Why is Joe leaving Impractical Jokers?

Season nine of Impractical Jokers aired between February 2021 and August 2021. Therefore, fans of the series were expecting the four comedians and real-life friends to return with a new season around the same time as the premiere of season nine.

But in January 2022, Joe Gatto took to Instagram to share the news which would confirm that there would be a delay in the release of the milestone tenth season of the show.

Joe, who has been a part of the show since its inception, confirmed in his post that he will not be in the tenth season.

His reasoning was understandable, as he plans to take the time away from the show to focus on his family. This, after he announced that he and his wife Bessy were getting divorced.

The couple, who have been together since 2010 and got married in 2013, have two children together.

Impractical Jokers Joe Gatto on time away

Joe Gatto confirmed on New Year’s Eve that he was not going to be part of the tenth season of Impractical Jokers.

He shared an initially comical introduction to his Instagram post, before writing about why he decided to take a hiatus from the show by writing, “Alongside my friends, I’ve devoted a decade of my life to building this franchise and couldn’t be prouder of what has been accomplished.”

Going on to add, “However, due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away. Bessy and I have decided to amicably part ways, so now I need to focus on being the best father and co-parent to our two incredible kids.”

Will Joe return to Impractical Jokers?

In his confirmation post on his departure from Impractical Jokers, Joe Gatto was elusive about whether he would return to the series sometime in the future, or not.

Joe is not only one of the show’s on-screen comedians, but he also serves as one of the co-creators of the series along with Murr, Q and Sal.

While Joe did not promise to return to the show, what he did say in his exit confirmation post on Instagram was, “As I work through the challenges I am facing, I hope to and am excited to create new ways to entertain you.”

Who will replace Joe on Impractical Jokers?

In February 2022, a month after Joe Gatto announced that he was taking a sabbatical from the truTV flagship series, Impractical Jokers announced how the next season will be formatted.

Through their post on social media, it was confirmed that they would not replace Joe with another permanent co-host. Instead, the series would use guest celebrity appearances throughout the tenth season to fill the void of Joe’s absence.

The first celebrity guest host is set to be comedian Eric Andre, who was most recently part of the movie, Sing 2 as the voice of Darius. The episode is set to air on Saturday, 2 April 2022, following the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Final thoughts

Impractical Jokers four-man formation has anchored the show for nine seasons, throughout its eleven-year run.

Even more so as the formation is not only based on comedians brought together by the series but is founded on the real-life friendship of the comedians and hosts.

Therefore, fans were surprised on New Year’s Eve in 2021, when Joe Gatto announced that he would not be a part of the upcoming milestone tenth season.

Joe explained that he was taking the time away to focus on being a co-parent to his children, following his divorce from his wife, Bessy, after seven years of marriage.