Andy Samberg reveals ‘Saturday Night Live’ exit reason 12 years ago

Andy Samberg revealed how being on Saturday Night Live was taking a “heavy toll” on him, and that is why the host left the show.

During his latest guest appearance on Kevin Hart‘s Peacock interview series Hart to Heart, Samberg shared why he exited Saturday Night Live 12 years ago.

The comedian's tenure on the sketch comedy show was from 2005 to 2012, and became one of the biggest names on it.

Samberg shared with Hart that he “was falling apart in my life” behind the scenes come 2012 and he just couldn’t “endure it anymore.”

“Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me and I got to a place where I was like I hadn’t slept in seven years basically,” Samberg said.

“We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told now come up with a digital short so write all Thursday, all Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday, so it’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years. So I just kinda fell apart physically.”

Samberg also admitted that working on SNL was not the same after Schaffer and Taccone left the show, turning the pressure of creating shorts for his final two years solely on him.

“I was basically left in charge of making the shorts, which I never pretended like I could do without them,” Samberg said.

“We made stuff I’m really proud of in my last two years, but there’s something about the songs that I can only do with Akiva and Jorm. It’s just how it is, we’re just a band in that way.”