Bowen Yang Breaks Down In Tears In Final SNL Sketch With Ariana Grande

Bowen Yang he could not hold it together in the final Saturday Night Live sketch – but still has some TLC Ariana Grande again Cher.

Yang, 35, broke down during the holiday-themed sketch on Saturday, Dec. 20, as Grande, 32, and Cher, 79, serenaded her with the festive classic “Please Come Home for Christmas.” The painting refers to the actual movement of Yang’s life Saturday Night Live as he plays a Delta Sky Club employee joined by old friends on his last mission.

“I can’t believe you’re retiring,” Grande said, with Yang explaining: “I wanted to come out on top!”

Grande’s character then said: “Everybody knows you’re down, honey!”

As the trio continued to sing, both Yang and Grande choked up and eventually began to cry. Yang’s bittersweet final sketch closes with him pulling Grande and Cher into a hug as he bangs.

Earlier in the night, Yang joined his Bad: Good costar Grande posting of Mariah Careythe festive classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” now titled “Get Me a Dude Christmas” as a way to address the perils of holiday gift shopping.

News broke on Friday, December 19, that Yang plans to leave It’s SNL after the annual Christmas show, which features Grande as the host and Cher as the musical guest.

Yang opened her time on the show with a poignant farewell note before showtime on Saturday. He looked back at the join It’s SNL just as the COVID-19 pandemic began in late 2019 and he credited the show for teaching him “the importance of showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”

“I appreciate every minute of my time there. I learned about myself (bad about wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). I learned that human error is okay,” she recalled. “I learned that comedy is mostly about logistics and that it will often fail until it fails, which is the best.”

Yang then thanked his many friends It’s SNLadds: “I thank every single person who was there: friends and colleagues and the audience and the hosts … I thank every member of the cast for making me laugh and cry.”

There had been speculation that Yang would leave the NBC show in May when she was seen dancing with another actor. Sarah Sherman during the goodnights section of season 50.

However, Yang decided to return in season 51, explaining that It’s SNL the creator Lorne Michaels he himself encouraged him to continue.

“I’ve been going by instinct, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do,” Yang said. People in September. “Even Lorne and I talked about it, and Lorne said, ‘You’ve got a lot to do,’ and that means a lot, because even confessing to him, I was like, ‘I feel like the audience is probably making me sick. And he said, ‘That’s not true. There’s a lot to do. I need it.'”

Yang continued, “I have to respect that. That man changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. And I love working there, the people are the best. I love every single one of them.”

Before his exit, Yang missed It’s SNL episode of season 51 in October to accept the Vantage Award in the gallery of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles.

Saturday Night Live returns to NBC January 17, 2026, at 11:30 pm ET Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard as host and ASAP Rocky as a musical guest.