Cecily Strong Hints at End of ‘SNL’ Tenure

Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong might be saying goodbye to the NBC comedy show, hinting that she may have already exited the series without fans knowing. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Strong addressed her future on SNL, offering up an ambiguous answer about returning for her 10th season.

“I’ll be thrilled if I go back. I’ll be thrilled if that was my last show,” she said. “I feel good either way.” Strong added that “things are a bit more up in the air, and I’m OK with that.” But, she continued, “My lesson from last year is sort of see what happens.” The 37-year-old closed out SNL‘s 46th season in May with an emotional cold open alongside several longtime co-stars and a rousing performance of “My Way” as Judge Jeanine Pirro during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment, with her show-stopping performance leaving some fans wondering whether it was her swan song.

Strong’s interview promoted her first original series, the musical comedy Schmigadoon!, which premieres on Apple TV+ on July 16. The series is executive produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels and stars Strong as one-half of a couple on a backpacking trip to save their relationship. They discover a magical town living in a 1940s musical and learn that they can’t leave until they find true love. “I’m excited to try different things,” Strong said of Schmigadoon!, which she has been working on since 2018.

“I haven’t been able to even tell anybody what I got to do in the fall, and so I’m bursting at the seams for the people to see this show,” she shared. “People get to know why I had this dreamy look on my face the whole time. I’m like, ‘You guys have no idea what happened in Vancouver!’ Now they’ll get to know.”

Strong stars opposite Keegan Michael-Key in Schmnigadoon! and the musical comedy also features former SNL cast member Fred Armisen and current cast member Bowen Yang and Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Jane Krakowski, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Jaime Camil, Ann Harada. “I got a show when Broadway was closed, and hopefully now everybody gets the show,” Strong reflected, adding that “it feels like the perfect thing to share because it’s just joyful, it’s funny, and it also has a lot of heart. And I think just sharing that with the world — I feel very lucky that’s what I get to share.”