• Several cast members have left or been let go from Saturday Night Live ahead (and during!) its 51st season.
  • Some of the former cast members include Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, Emil Wakim, and Bowen Yang, who left mid-season on Dec. 20.
  • Series regular Marcello Hernandez opened up about his fate on the variety show and broke his silence on Bowen’s recent departure.

Though Saturday Night Live has lost a few of its fan-favorite cast members over the past few months, one thing’s for certain: Marcello Hernandez won’t be leaving our screens any time soon.

During an interview with E! News at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday, January 4, Marcello reassured the outlet’s red carpet correspondent that he’s still part of the legacy variety show. “I’m there, I’m there, I’m there,” he said, adding, “I’m having fun, bro. It’s a crazy job, and you get to meet so many crazy people—and I love it.”

The comedian, best known for his sketches with Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal, and Jane Wickline, also broke his silence on Bowen Yang’s midseason departure on December 20.

“I look at it like sports,” Marcello, whose Netflix comedy special American Boy airs on January 7, explained. “That’s a guy who put up numbers. Consistent, always putting up big sketches, and he had a distinct voice, and everybody loves him.”

He continued to gush about his former castmate and suggested that he left the show after seven years “for a reason.”

“He's a hard worker,” Marcello shared. “I saw him behind the scenes grinding every week. It’s a guy to learn from, for sure.”

Bowen’s final episode of SNL was hosted by his Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande, with musical guest Cher. (Truly, what a way to go out!) He commemorated his final moments on the show with an emotional Instagram post, writing, in part, “I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people. I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 Rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”

He later added, “I’m grateful for every minute of my time there. I learned about myself (bad with wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). I learned that human error can be nothing but correct. I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”

Let’s face it: we don’t think we’ll ever be ready to bid farewell to the Domingo, and we’re still processing the recent exits of SNL icons like Bowen, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, and Emil Wakim.