Saturday Night Live: Cecily Strong’s Heartfelt SNL Departure Message

Along with saying goodbye to fans until 2023, NBC’s Saturday Night Live also bid farewell to Cecily Strong, who officially exited SNL after nine seasons at the end of last night’s Austin Butler-hosted & Lizzo-performing SNL episode. Now, Strong has taken to Instagram to post a heartfelt message to the fans. “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, Strong wrote at the end of her social media message from earlier this evening.

“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 began the caption to his post. “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. 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!!! 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 nighttime elevator. It felt as impossible to leave that night as it does now.”

Strong continued, “And 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. 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.”

Cecily Strong’s Goodbye; Butler Serenades One of Saturday Night Live’s Best

Once the news hit late on Saturday that Strong would be departing the long-running, late-night sketch comedy/music series, fans were waiting to see at what point during the show Strong would have a chance to say a proper goodbye (before the final bow at the end of the night, of course). Appropriately enough for a segment that she both co-anchored and appeared in over the years, that moment came during the Colin Jost & Michael Che-anchored “Weekend Update.” Appearing as Cathy Anne, Strong had some heartfelt things to share about “heading to prison,” where Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant are apparently waiting for her based on the graphic that appeared behind her:

But what got the tears flowing was the final sketch that turned into Butler & the SNL cast breaking from the “Radio Shack” sketch (so much metaphor there, it was starting to hurt) to serenade Strong with an Elvis Presley-style take on “Blue Christmas” (with Strong’s singing voice reminding us once again what a true multi-talent she is):