Saturday Night Live Shocker! Fan Favorite Quits!

We are saying goodbye to yet another fan-favorite cast member of Saturday Night Live!

Perezcious readers know the beloved sketch comedy series underwent major changes ahead of Season 51. Several stars, including Emil Wakim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, John Higgins, and Ego Nwodim, all departed the show earlier this year.

It’s all part of a mass exodus initiated by boss Lorne Michaels, who reportedly planned to keep only four cast members for the season. However, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernández, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Ashley Padilla, and Jane Wickline all returned to Studio 8H. SNL also welcomed newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska to the team.

Fans thought they could take a breath and not worry about any more switch-ups this season. Ha! Wrong! We have some unfortunate news. A cast member is leaving the show mid-way through the season! Yes, really! This is not a joke!

Sources close to the situation told TMZ on Friday that… Bowen quit! OMG!

WHAT!!!!!

According to the insiders, the comedian’s final “goodbyes” will be on Saturday night when his Wicked co-star and friend Ariana Grande hosts. Cher is the musical guest. Wow. We don’t want to believe it. We didn’t even expect it, to be honest! Bowen even told People that he felt he had “more to do” on the show! He said in September:

“I’ve always gone by the instinct of, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do. Even Lorne and I talked about it and Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot because I even confessed to him. I was like, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you.’”

What changed? Ugh! As fans know, Bowen has been on SNL for the past seven years. He began as a writer for the show in 2018 and joined the cast the following year. Since then, his career has skyrocketed, starring in films like Wicked and Wicked: For Good. He also hosts the successful Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers. During his time on Saturday Night Live, he earned 5 Primetime Emmy nominations — 1 for writing and 4 for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

At this time, Bowen hasn’t addressed whether he is really departing the show. But if true, SNL is losing an amazing talent here! He will be so missed! What are your reactions? Are you shocked by the news? Tell us all your thoughts in the comments (below).

[Image via Saturday Night Live/YouTube]