Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner have reconnected in a heartfelt conversation, months after their unexpected departures from Saturday Night Live. The two comedians, who were close friends, opened up about their friendship and their time on the iconic NBC sketch comedy show during an episode of Nwodim’s podcast, Thanks Dad With Ego Nwodim.
Nwodim, 37, shared her gratitude for the seven years she spent on SNL with Gardner, 42. “Getting to spend seven years of my time on SNL with you was one of life’s greatest gifts,” she said. “It’s not the easiest place to work, but you were such a huge gift, and I absolutely adore and love you and am so grateful for that time.”
Gardner responded with emotion, reflecting on their shared experiences. “I am so honored that we worked so hard there, and then we also worked on our friendship so hard, which wasn’t hard, by the way. I just mean we’re humans, so we have egos, we want things for ourselves, we want to succeed, and there weren’t a lot of times when we were able to succeed in the way we wanted at the exact same time.”
She then broke into tears as she recalled being proud of Nwodim for her standout moment during Jack Black’s episode in April. “I remember watching you do the ‘Miss Eggy’ moment and thinking, this is the moment of the season. You are my favorite person in the world.”
Nwodim acknowledged how easy it can be to get caught up in jealousy and ambition while working at SNL, but praised Gardner for always being gracious about her successes. “There's just nobody like you, and you were just such a light in what can be such a challenging place to so many people,” Nwodim said.
Earlier in the episode, Nwodim and Gardner shared how they quickly became friends due to a shared dressing room. They bonded over deep conversations and even naps on their small couch. “We got right into it, we went really deep, really fast, which I'm known for — even in romance,” Nwodim joked about their first week together on set.
“One of us got called to the floor to rehearse a silly sketch, and it’s like, OK, I just told you everything about my life. And the thing you said to me is, I was called to exit, you were like, ‘Well, that’s more than I know about anyone who works here, and I’ve been here more than a year.’”
Gardner and Nwodim, who respectively starred on the show for eight and seven years, left the SNL cast after season 50 ended. While Gardner hasn’t spoken publicly about her exit, Nwodim announced her departure last month. “The hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight,” she said on Instagram.
Their departures were among the most shocking in the massive cast shake-up, which also saw other cast members like Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow leave the show.
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