Chevy Chase was part of the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, but the actor's time on the sketch comedy program was rather short-lived. Chase left the show in the middle of SNL's second season after originating the Weekend Update segment and the catchphrase "I'm Chevy Chase ... and you're not." The cast member and writer admitted he had some regrets about stepping away from the series so early on. "It was strange because I missed it right away. And I still miss it," he said in CNN Films' January 2025 documentary I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, per People. "I loved that show. I loved being with Lorne [Michaels] and the cast - quite a funny cast: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Gilda [Radner], Laraine [Newman] and Jane [Curtin]. You know that was a great group of people. So I missed them too." Scroll below for more on Chase's reasoning for leaving SNL. Why Chevy Chase Exited 'SNL' in Season 2 Though Chase was a staple on the program in season 1, he ended up walking away for something money couldn't buy - love. "Well, Lorne was on the phone continually; in fact, I remember giving him mouth-to-mouth from OD'ing on the phone. I just couldn't get a word in," Chase joked about his exit during a June 2007 appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman. "No, the real reason as it has not been published correctly was a girl. Everybody on the show knew that, particularly Lorne, with whom I shared everything. He's like a brother to me." "But there was a girl who lived in Los Angeles who I was infatuated with and wanted to marry, and she wouldn't move to New York," Chase continued. "And when I say infatuated, I mean I had an erection every day all day just thinking about her." Chevy Chase's Daughter Says He Has 'Come Back From the Dead' After 8-Day Coma The confession caused the room to erupt in laughter before Letterman asked, "Did you notify your doctor?" and Chase responded, "Are you kidding? We couldn't fit in the same room." The National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation actor said that the woman eventually gave him an ultimatum. "I said to Lorne, 'She's not going to move, and she said if I don't come back after one year here, and I was the only one with a contract, I'm not going to marry you. I'm going to go out with Warren Beatty and people like that,' and I went bats, and I really left because of a girl." Did Chevy Chase Marry the Woman He Left 'SNL' For? Chase did end up walking down the aisle with the woman, Jacqueline Carlin, in 1976. "It lasted about nine months," he joked of their marriage on Letterman. "She threw a hot iron at me and various other things. It was really the wrong choice." In actuality, Chase and Carlin were married for four years before their 1980 divorce. (Prior to his marriage to Carlin, Chase was wed to first wife Suzanne Hewitt from 1973 to 1976.) The Community actor married his third wife, Jayni Luke, in 1982. They share three children, Cydney, Caley and Emily. (Chase is also a dad to son Bryan Perkins from a previous relationship.) "Chevy was absolutely smitten with each of our daughters, and he's been a super loving and devoted father," Jayni told Bedford & New Canaan Magazine in March 2024 of their marriage and family of five. "We've had lots of extraordinary friends and we've met a lot of high-profile people, but it's our three fabulous daughters that matter most to us." Thos Robinson/Getty Images Did Chevy Chase Ever Return to 'SNL'? Chase made his comeback to the SNL stage in 1978 to host the show. He went on to assume the role seven more times, with his last hosting gig being in 1997. Each of his appearances was marred by reports of on set clashes and altercations with the show's stars over the years, including Bill Murray. When SNL celebrated its 50th anniversary in February 2025, Chase was not featured in the television special, a decision that left him feeling "hurt." "Well, it was kind of upsetting actually," he said in I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not. "This is probably the first time I'm saying it. But I expected that I would've been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn't. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?" Chase went on to call his lack of involvement in the celebration a "mistake." "Somebody's made a bad mistake there," he said. "I don't know who it was, but somebody made a mistake. They should've had me on that stage. It hurt."