Though many thought Cecily Strong would be one of the many actors not returning to Saturday Night Live after the end of Season 47, the comedian shocked the world when she returned for the sketch comedy’s 48th season. Upon her Season 48 return, Strong set the record for the longest-tenured female actor to ever grace Studio 8H. Fast-forward to December 17th and the last episode before the show’s holiday break, and Strong revealed she was departing the show for good. Now, she’s released a statement on her decision to leave 30 Rock.
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“My heart is bursting. I have a lot of big huge life changing love to unpack, so this is what I can say tonight,” Strong said in a lengthy post on Instagram. “Ten and a half years ago I got my dream job. The first actual work day I tried to be very cool and make it look like I knew what i was doing and I was supposed to be there.”
Strong then recalled a humorous story in which she tried to leave the SNL offices, but couldn’t find a way out of the building.
“I left that night around 11 after saying goodbye to everyone. I got stuck wandering around the building because none of the elevators went to the first floor and I was trying so hard to avoid having to go back upstairs to ask for help because I’d already said goodbye,” she continued. “I think I went to every floor trying to figure out if there was another exit I was missing. I might have even gone into a stairwell. I ended up going back upstairs and my soon-to-be great friend Colin Jost helped me out and walked me over to the secret night time elevator. It felt as impossible to leave that night as it does now.”
The SNL mainstay then thanked Jost for his friendship over the decade she spent on the show.
“My great friend Colin Jost ended up helping me again, this time by getting Elvis to sing me off (thank you Austin Butler you absolute kind and generous dreamboat). I’m sorry I’ve been a little quiet about it publicly. I didn’t want the extra pressure on something already so emotional for me,” Strong concluded. “And I’m so grateful I got to have these wonderful past six shows to help me ease into it and get to meet and laugh and probably overly hug Molly, Marcello, Devon, and Michael who I think are not only brilliantly funny but really great humans. I am ready to go, but I’ll always know home is here. I’ve had the time of my life working with the greatest people on earth.”
How to watchย Saturday Night Live
Throughout the remainder of Season 48, currently expected to run through next May, NBC is simulcasting new episodes live on both NBC and Peacock. Peacock also serves as the streaming vault for all SNL episodes from its inception, with new episodes being added the day after they air.
Virtually everyย SNLย episode, other than the select few locked away for good because of a variety of reasons, is now available to watch on the streaming service.
