Cecily Strong reflects on 'impossible' decision to leave SNL: 'I'll always know home is here'

Cecily Strong is reflecting on the bittersweet decision to depart Saturday Night Live after a triumphant 11-season run.

"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 shared in a recent Instagram post that looked back on her first day as a cast member at what she called her dream job.

The comedian recalled wandering the halls of Studio 8H because she was unable to locate the right elevator to return to the first floor. "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 night time elevator," she said. "It felt as impossible to leave that night as it does now."

She 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."

Strong said she was "so grateful" to "have these wonderful past six shows to help me ease into it," as well as meet "and laugh and probably overly hug" new castmates Molly Kearney, Marcello Hernández, Devon Walker, and Michael Longfellow, "who I think are not only brilliantly funny but really great humans," she added.

"I am ready to go, but I'll always know home is here," she concluded. "I've had the time of my life working with the greatest people on earth."

Strong joined the long-running sketch comedy series in 2012 and created countless memorable recurring characters, including Cathy Anne, introduced by Michael Che as his chain-smoking neighbor; the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party; and Gemma, an aspiring British pop star. She bid farewell on the Dec. 17 show with host Austin Butler, reviving Cathy Anne one last time with one final character update: She's going to prison.

"I feel really lucky that I got to have so many of the best moments of my life in this place with these people that I love so much," Strong said during a momentary break in character, before slipping back in and adding, "But I guess take that with a grain of salt being that I have addiction issues."

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