Bowen Yang couldn’t fairly maintain it collectively for his ultimate Saturday Night time Dwell sketch — however he nonetheless acquired some TLC from Ariana Grande and Cher.
Yang, 35, teared up throughout a vacation travel-themed sketch on Saturday, December 20, as Grande, 32, and Cher, 79, serenaded him with the festive basic “Please Come Residence for Christmas.” The sketch referenced Yang’s real-life departure from Saturday Night time Dwell as he performed a Delta Sky Membership worker joined by previous associates on his last-ever shift.
“I can’t imagine you’re retiring,” Grande advised him, with Yang explaining: “I simply needed to exit on prime!”
Grande’s character then quipped: “Everybody is aware of you’re a backside, honey!”
Because the trio continued to sing, each Yang and Grande acquired choked up and finally began to cry. Yang’s bittersweet ultimate sketch closed with him pulling Grande and Cher right into a hug as he bawled.
Earlier within the evening, Yang joined his Depraved: For Good costar Grande for a sendup of Mariah Carey’s festive basic “All I Need for Christmas Is You,” now retitled “What Do I Get for Christmas for This Dude” as an ode to the perils of vacation present shopping for.
Information broke on Friday, December 19, that Yang deliberate to go away SNL after its annual Christmas present, that includes Grande as host and Cher as musical visitor.
Yang opened up about his time on the present in a poignant goodbye word earlier than showtime on Saturday. He regarded again on becoming a member of SNL simply because the COVID-19 pandemic began in late 2019 and credited the present with instructing him “the worth in exhibiting up anyway when folks make it worthwhile.”
Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande carry out with “Saturday Night time Dwell” forged. Courtesy NBC
“I’m grateful for each minute of my time there. I discovered about myself (dangerous with wigs). I discovered about others (beneficiant, weak, scorching). I discovered that human error will be nothing however appropriate,” he recalled. “I discovered that comedy is usually logistics and that it’ll normally fail till it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”
Yang then thanked his many associates at SNL, including: “Thanks to each single one who confirmed up there: associates and coworkers and audiences and hosts … Thanks to each forged member for making me snort and cry.”
There had been hypothesis that Yang would depart the NBC sketch present in Might when he was seen wistfully dancing with fellow forged member Sarah Sherman in the course of the season 50 finale’s goodnights section.
Depraved costars Ariana Grande and Bowen Yang proved besties do it higher in the course of the Saturday, October 12, episode of Saturday Night time Dwell. Grande, 31, returned to host Saturday’s episode — her second time emceeing the variability present after 2016 — the place she confirmed off her enduring bond with Yang, 33. (Grande and Yang, after all, […]
Nevertheless, Yang determined to come back again for season 51, explaining that SNL creator Lorne Michaels personally inspired him to stay round.
“I’ve all the time passed by the intuition of, do I’ve extra to do? And I really feel like I do,” Yang advised Individuals in September. “Even Lorne and I talked about it, and Lorne was like, ‘You’ve got extra to do,’ and meaning loads, as a result of I even confessed to him. I used to be like, ‘I really feel the viewers is perhaps getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s extra so that you can do. I want you.’”
Yang went on, “I’ve to honor that. That man has modified my life, and I owe a number of my life to that present. And I really like working there, the persons are one of the best. I actually love every of them a lot.”
Previous to his exit, Yang missed an SNL season 51 episode in October to simply accept the Vantage Award at an Academy Museum of Movement Photos gala held on the Academy Museum in Los Angeles.
Saturday Night time Dwell returns on NBC January 17, 2026, at 11:30 p.m. ET with Stranger Issues’ Finn Wolfhard as host and ASAP Rocky as musical visitor.
