Cecily Strong departs Saturday Night Live after 11 seasons: ‘Best moments of my life’

After 11 seasons, Cecily Strong has said farewell to “Saturday Night Live."

Cecily Strong (Invision)

After 11 seasons, Cecily Strong has said farewell to “Saturday Night Live."

A few hours before the last episode of the season Saturday, the TV show’s Instagram account posted a cue card saying, “we’ll miss you, Cecily.” The caption read “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it.”

A two-time Emmy nominee for her work on the show, Strong was known for characters like the Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With At a Party and impressions of people like Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green.

During Saturday’s show, she broke character as Michael Che’s drug-addicted neighbor Cathy Anne on Weekend Update to give a personal statement.

“I had a lot of fun here,” she said. “And I feel really lucky that I have had so many of the best moments of my life in this place, and with these people that I love so much.”

It’s latest in a string of high-profile departures for “Saturday Night Live” this year, including Pete Davidson, Chris Redd, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney and Aidy Bryant. Strong joined the show in 2012, during the 38th season, and has since gone on to appear in movies, including the 2016 “Ghostbusters,” and television shows, like Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!”

She and host Austin Butler closed out the episode with a performance of “Blue Christmas.”