Bowen Yang opens up about leaving SNL: “I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to”

At the 3:00 mark of the video, Matt Rogers begins to ask Bowen Yang about his decision to quit Saturday Night Live after seven seasons. Bowen’s final episode last month featured Arianna Grande as host and Cher as musical guest.

Bowen clearly has no regrets about his decision to leave and feels like he stayed just the perfect length of time – for him.

“In a lot of cases (cast members) don’t have the like, privilege of staying on as long as they would like to,” he said. “I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to.”

Listeners of the podcast also learned some life lessons via Yang on “SNL,” including that “working there is just making peace with the fact that like, things are completely out of your control. Down to the audience response to a joke,” he shared.

“Nothing is guaranteed. Like that is sort of it in a nutshell,” Yang said. “It kind of is perfectly illustrative of what that job is. And it was resonant all the way through to the end. And I feel really – this word is meaningless I think maybe now – but so grateful.”

Yang got emotional as he tearfully recalled how people showed up for him during his final sketch, including his friend and former “SNL” co-cast member Aidy Bryant who left the show in 2022 after a decade, along with many who worked behind the scenes.

“I get on the floor, I look out, and it was like basically everyone who worked there was off the floor showing up,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “And 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.’”