Former ‘SNL’ star Punkie Johnson explains abruptly leaving the show: ‘That show is for different kinds of people’

She went away.

Comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” castmate Punkie Johnson, 39, who made history as the show’s first openly gay Black woman, is opening up about why she left the show.

Speaking to fellow “SNL” alumni David Spade and Dana Carvey on their “Fly on the Wall” podcast, Johnson explained his decision to leave the show ahead of its landmark 50th season.

“I talked to my team,” Johnson told Spade and Carvey about a conversation they had last year. “I thought, ‘Look, I don’t know if I’m fit for this job, so maybe I should just walk away.'”

She added, “But I told them very, very late, like right after I found out I had to go back. And it was like, ‘Okay Punky, you need a plan. You can’t quit your job.'”

Johnson was on “SNL” for four seasons, joining the show in 2020 and exiting after Season 49 concluded this spring.

“It wasn’t even a dream, because I never thought I’d be there. That’s how surprised I was,” Johnson told NBC News in 2021 about becoming a cast member.

“I’m just a little gay girl from New Orleans enjoying life doing comedy and thinking that’s it.”

She also performs stand-up and has appeared in series such as “A Black Lady Sketch Show”, “Space Force” and “Adam Ruins Everything”.

After talking with his team, he decided to stay for Season 49, and things were going well initially.

“I think I got three or four sketches in the first part [of the season]” she said. “And usually I only get maybe two or three in the whole season, so I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’m killing it. Like, this is my season.'”

However, Johnson began to question the job again after writer Ben Silva left.

Johnson said of Silva, “If I was telling him something, he knew how to put it in ‘SNL’ format for me. If I try to put it in ‘SNL’ format, that’s the tough part.”

The comedian said that she felt uncomfortable.

“I didn’t really feel like I fit in, I didn’t feel like it was my field. That show is for a different kind of person,” she said on the podcast.

Johnson said, “I came from stand-up, so I thought everybody else came from stand-up. I started talking to people and everybody said, ‘Oh yeah, we went to school for this.’ I was like, ‘Did you all go to school to be here?'”

Johnson confirmed his departure in a video posted to Instagram earlier this month, saying, “It’s no animosity, it’s no bridges burned, it’s no hard feelings. Brother, I love my people! I didn’t think any of this would be a big deal.”