When will Bowen Yang leave Saturday Night Live? Comedian to exit during current season after five years

After a successful run on the Saturday Night Live show, Bowen Yang is hanging up his boots soon. On December 19, 2025, PEOPLE reported that the 35-year-old who joined the sketch comedy show in 2019 as the first Chinese American cast member would be leaving the show after the December 20, 2025, episode.

Yang’s impending departure from SNL comes on the heels of multiple cast members, including Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Josh Higgins, leaving before the show’s current season.

While Yang's leaving SNL mid-season is quite unusual, other stars who have done the same include Eddie Murphy, Cecily Strong and Molly Shannon.

Yang talked about leaving the show in an April 2025 interview with PEOPLE.

“That inevitably requires me to sort of hang it up at some point,” Bowen Yang on leaving Saturday Night Live
 

 

Yang, who has appeared in more than 100 episodes for SNL, said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in April 2025 that working with SNL was bound to take away other life experiences from a person.

The Wicked actor revealed he had come to this realization after observing alums during the show’s 50th anniversary special:

 

“SNL, it's just this moving, living, breathing thing," said before adding, "Especially after the 50th, I'm seeing what life after the show is like and how beautiful it is, and how so many people, no matter how long they were at the show, are just with their families and loving their lives and not letting the years take away any of that experience for them,"

He added during the interview that he was considering leaving the show at some point due to its demanding schedule:

 

"The new season of SNL, I'm just like, 'Oh, right. My time isn't my own.' And I tell my friends, 'I'm not going to really see you guys until June,' " he said.
He continued, "That inevitably requires me to sort of hang it up at some point — but I don't know what the vision is yet."

The actor/ comedian/ writer and podcaster, before the premiere of SNL’s 51st season, described the show as a “transitional phase” and “launching pad” for its actors.

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