Why did Joe leave Impractical Jokers?
Joe Gatto co-founded The Tenderloins, co-created the show, and filmed roughly 300 episodes of it over a decade. Then he was gone in the middle of season 9, with no on-camera goodbye. The explanation came on social media, not in an episode.
Gatto announced his exit on December 31, 2021, citing "some issues" in his personal life — specifically his separation from his wife, Bessy Gatto. He said he needed to focus on co-parenting their two kids. There was no firing, no falling-out with Sal Vulcano, Brian "Q" Quinn, or James "Murr" Murray, and no network decision involved.
What he actually wrote
The post was direct about both the reason and the lack of hard feelings toward the other three:
"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. However, due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away," Gatto wrote on social media in December 2021.
He thanked his co-stars, said he was confident in where they'd take the show, and hinted at future projects.
The part most fans missed
Gatto and Bessy reconciled. In September 2023 he posted about the two of them working through it, and they later marked their eleventh anniversary. The reason he left ended up resolved — but he still hasn't gone back.
Is he coming back?
He's ruled out guest spots. Speaking to TheWrap in January 2025, around the release of his Hulu stand-up special Messing with People, he was blunt about it:
"I've moved on from the show, the show has moved on from me."
He added that he and the others are still friends, just not work friends anymore, and that after 300 episodes he'd told all the jokes he wanted to tell. The one exception he'll entertain is a series finale — he's said he'd love to help close the thing out whenever it ends.
What he's doing instead
- Stand-up — solo theater tours including Night of Comedy and Let's Get Into It, plus the 2025 Hulu special.
- Podcasting — co-hosts Two Cool Moms with Steve Byrne on the iHeart network.
- Dog rescue — runs the nonprofit Gatto Pups and Friends on Long Island, focused on senior and unwanted dogs.
- Books — published a children's book, Where's Bearry?, based on his son losing a stuffed bear at bedtime.
The show, for its part, kept going. Season 10 replaced the fourth chair with rotating celebrity guests, and Impractical Jokers moved from truTV to TBS along the way. Four became three, plus whoever showed up that week.