Bowen Yang Praises Heidi Gardner After ‘SNL’ Exit: ‘You Are One of the Greats. You Will Go Down in History’

Bowen Yang is praising his “Saturday Night Live” co-star Heidi Gardner after her exit from the series after eight seasons.

“You are one of the greats. You will go down in history,” Yang said of Gardner on “Las Culturistas,” his podcast with Matt Rogers, who also offered effusive praise for the comedic actor.

Yang’s return for his seventh season on “SNL” was announced earlier this week. The NBC sketch comedy series shed a handful of players — including Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and John Higgins — while welcoming five new cast members. “I will miss the people who are not coming back very, very much,” Yang said.

Yang singled out Gardner as one of the only cast members on “SNL” who could be trusted to pen sketches alone, without a co-writer. “It’s always a very, very vulnerable thing as a cast member to put only your name on it,” Yang said. “But anytime you saw just ‘Gardner,’ you knew you were in good hands. She would take it upon herself to write pieces for other cast.”

Recalling his favorite pieces by Gardner, Yang said she once wrote a “Weekend Update” segment for Punkie Johnson, who left “SNL” in 2024. “It was one of the most beautiful, kindest gestures I’ve ever seen at that show, and her heart was so big, and clearly so fucking funny,” Yang said. “A true anchor on that show.”

He also talked about Gardner’s presence off-screen at Studio 8H, saying she helped lift the cast and crew’s spirits during the lockdown days of the pandemic. Gardner encouraged her castmates to send each other daily texts about things that made them smile, providing an emotional “foothold” for Yang. “Just a truly beautiful person,” he added.

Yang and Gardner appeared in countless sketches together over the years, including “Secretary” with Pete Davidson and the food-centric Gardner showcase “Mile-High Burger Challenge.”

“Saturday Night Live” returns on NBC on Oct. 4. Read all about who joined, left and stayed on the program in Variety‘s Season 51 cast guide.