Photo: Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Cecily Strong Says She Was Too ‘Emotional’ to Reveal SNL Exit Beforehand: ‘Time of My Life’

Cecily Strongis reflecting on herdeparturefromSaturday Night Live.

The comedian shared a farewell message on Instagram Monday that looked back at her journey on the iconic NBC comedy sketch show following her last performance as a cast member over the weekend.

“My heart is bursting,” she began. “I have a lot of big huge life changing love to unpack, so this is what I can say tonight 💙”

“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,” she continued. “I ended up going back upstairs and my soon-to-be great friendColin Josthelped me out and walked me over to the secret night time elevator.”

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Cecily Strong Says She Was Too ‘Emotional’ to Reveal SNL Exit Beforehand: ‘Time of My Life’

Discussing her decision to exit the show, she said, “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.”

“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 [Kearney], Marcello [Hernandez],Devon [Walker], and Michael [Longfellow] who I think are not only brilliantly funny but really great humans,” she concluded. “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.”

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Last week,SNL’s official Instagram account announced that Strong would appear in her final episode on Saturday.

A photograph of a sign that read, “We’ll miss you, Cecily” was captioned: “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it.We’ll miss you, Cecily!”

Strong first joinedSNLback in September 2012 during the show’s 38th season. She was promoted to repertory player in September 2013 during season 39. (Aidy Bryant, 35, andKate McKinnon, 38, were also upgraded that same season and have since left the series.)

During her time on the late-night show, Strong was nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series at the 72nd and 73rd PrimetimeEmmy Awardsin 2020 and 2021, respectively.

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Saturday Night Livewill return in early 2023.

source: people.com