Cecily Strong Becomes First Cast Member To Leave 'Saturday Night Live' Season 48

The December 17 episode of "Saturday Night Live" wasn't just the last episode of 2022, it also served as a farewell to longtime cast member Cecily Strong. Its release was announced on the official "SNL" Twitter ahead of the episode's premiere. "Tonight we send one of the best ever. We will miss you, Cecily!" the read tweet.

Strong first joined "SNL" in 2012 and quickly created a number of memorable recurring characters, including The Girl You Wish You Hadn't A Conversation With at a Party and the tough Cathy Anne, with whom she made a final appearance as during the Weekend Update segment. "I'm a little emo tonight, because I'm here to say goodbye", the "Schmigadoon!" the in-character star told Michael Che. When Che asked her why she was leaving, she joked, "Turns out prison."

She then assured Che that she would be fine since she already had "friends inside, and they seem to be fine." At that time, a photo of departing Season 47 cast members Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon, wearing orange jumpsuits, appeared on screen.

From there, Strong let his character slide slightly as he bid farewell to the show. "I had a good run, I mean, I met you," Strong told Che. "And Colin [Jost], don't you think I forgot about you. Here's a pic of you and me doing Update together."

She continued, "Everyone has to go to jail at some point, and it's just my time now, but I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so many of the best times of my life with these people. that I love so much."

Later in the episode, host Austin Butler joined Kenan Thompson and the rest of the cast in serenading Strong with a rendition of "Blue Christmas". Thompson, who remains the show's longest-serving cast member, sang, "You'll be fine every Saturday night. But we'll all have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas."

While Strong is the first “SNL” cast member to leave season 48, the end of season 47 saw a number of high-profile exits from the show. Cast members who recently left the show include Pete Davidson, Bryant, McKinnon, Alex Moffat, and Melissa Villaseñor, among others. The other actors are Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day and Bowen Yang.

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