Ego Nwodim gets candid about ‘SNL’ exit and cast dynamics: ‘It can make you not like each other’

After departing the show ahead of its 51st season, Ego Nwodim is revealing what it was like to work on “Saturday Night Live.”

Close quarters, hours-long rehearsals, and a fiercely competitive atmosphere were just part of life for Ego Nwodim and her fellow “Saturday Night Live” castmates during her seven-season run on the show.

On a recent episode of her podcast “Thanks Dad,” the 37-year-old comedian and actress sat down with her former “SNL” castmate Heidi Gardner to reflect on the highs and lows of working on the late-night comedy institution.

“To have to share such an intimate space together for hours on end on Saturdays and Thursdays and Fridays, whenever we were rehearsing, yeah, it made us close quick,” Nwodim said. “But it doesn’t have to work that way. It could also not make you close. It can make you not like each other. It can make you feel whatever mutually, ‘I’m sharing a space with this person.’”

Speaking directly to Gardner, she added, “But I’m so grateful we got so close.”

Nwodim went on to admit that it can be difficult to feel like the “SNL” cast is “winning together,” calling it “not the easiest place to work.” Still, she praised Gardner for bringing warmth and positivity to an environment that can often feel high-pressure.

“If you can leave a place that’s so competitive, where it’s easy to become self-involved, and still be remarkably kind, still be a light and pour into other people like you do, I think you’ve succeeded,” Nwodim told her friend.

After seven seasons, Nwodim announced her departure from the show on September 12, ahead of its 51st season. Gardner shared her own exit the month prior. Their departures come amid a broader cast shakeup, with Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow also exiting ahead of the upcoming season.

Nwodim’s departure left the cast without a Black woman among the regular cast for the first time in several years. 

“The hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight,” the comedian wrote in a post on Instagram announcing her departure. “But after seven unforgettable seasons, I have decided to leave SNL.”

“I am immensely grateful to Lorne for the opportunity, to my castmates, the writers, and the crew for their brilliance, support, and friendship,” her post continued. “Week after week on that stage taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and I will carry those memories (and that laughter) with me always.”

She concluded with, “Now invite me to your weddings to please!”