Cecily Strong is leaving Saturday Night Live after 11 seasons on the show. A post on social media from the official Instagram account for the sketch show confirmed Strong’s exit.
“We’ll miss you, Cecily,” read a cue card shared while the caption of the post said, “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it. We’ll miss you, Cecily!”
Strong’s last episode set for Saturday, December 17 has Austin Butler as the host and Lizzo as the musical guest.
Strong made her debut on SNL as a featured player on September 15, 2012, and was upped the following year starting with Season 39. The comedic star co-anchored the “Weekend Update” segment alongside Seth Meyers. When Meyers left to host Late Night, Strong continued to co-anchor the segment alongside SNL writer Colin Jost for one season.
Some of Strong’s most popular recurring characters on the NBC sketch show include The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party, Dana, the loud-mouthed and unfriendly retail employee, Krya the co-host of The Girlfriends Talk Show, Cathy Anne, the drug-addicted neighbor of Michael Che, among others.
Throughout her tenure on SNL, Strong had a strong celebrity impersonation game. Some of the most memorable ones include Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and most recently Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake with all of her Zoom filters.
More to come…
