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Bowen Yang is still emotional over his “Saturday Night Live” exit.
The comedian, 35, opened up about his decision to quit the NBC sketch comedy series after seven seasons on Wednesday’s episode of his “Las Culturistas” podcast that he co-hosts with his best friend, Matt Rogers.
“This is honestly what’s behind it. It’s time,” Yang said. “Like, you would do seven seasons and then you would scoot.”
“COVID and the current media landscape, the current entertainment ecosystem is so turbulent that people have completely valid reasons for staying longer or in a lot of cases, don’t have the privilege of staying on as long as they would like to,” he continued.
The Emmy nominee added, “I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to. Maybe, I’m sure — and I’ve said this before — I was maybe unsure about going back in the summer and I’m so glad I did.”
Yang bid farewell to “SNL” during the Dec. 20 episode hosted by his “Wicked” co-star, Ariana Grande.
On the podcast, Yang revealed that his emotional final sketch — in which he played a Delta employee finishing his last shift before retirement — could’ve very well been cut from the live show.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” Yang explained. “That is, sort of in a nutshell, like, it is perfectly illustrative of what that job is. It was resonant all the way through to the end.”
Yang said that he “was sobbing” during the read-through, recalling, “In the sketch, I say, ‘I’ve loved everyone here. I’ve loved every single person who works here.’ Like, I immediately broke down because I was telling the truth.”
The “Fire Island” star also got emotional reflecting on the support that he had in Studio 8H for his final episode.
“There was like an outpouring. People that I hadn’t heard from. It felt like a really beautiful thing,” he told Rogers, 35, through tears. “Basically everyone who worked there is on the floor showing up. I just looked out and I thought, ‘I’m so lucky that I ever got to work here.’ And I’m so lucky that I get to make this little statement that’s barely veiled, where I’m like, ‘I love you all.’ I’m so lucky.”
Elsewhere during the podcast episode, Yang called working on the NBC show “one of the most meaningful experiences I will ever have,” and said that the job taught him “how to work under what seems like an immense amount of pressure.”
Yang confirmed he was leaving “SNL” on Instagram Dec. 20.
“I loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people,” he began his message. “i was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”
Yang continued, I”m grateful for every minute of my time there. i learned about myself (bad with wigs). i learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). i learned that human error can be nothing but correct. i learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”
He also thanked creator Lorne Michaels for setting “the standard” and “for bringing everyone at work together.”
“They all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves,” Yang said. “I can’t believe i was ever included in that.”
Yang’s departure came just months after a handful of other popular cast members, including Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim, exited the NBC show ahead of Season 51’s premiere in Oct. 2025.