‘Saturday Night Live’: Did Cecily Strong ask to leave ‘Weekend Update’?

We are one of the biggest Cecily Strong fans out there, and with that in mind, we understand the backlash that is coming with the news that she is exiting “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live.”

With that being said, shouldn’t we stop for a minute to ask an important question first? Did Cecily herself actually want to leave the gig? If you read Bill Carter’s full piece in the New York Times regarding Michael Che stepping up as the new co-anchor, you can see the following paragraph near the bottom:

“Mr. Michaels reasserted his confidence in Ms. Strong as one of the show’s best players and said the move would give her the opportunity to appear more frequently in sketches this season, a move Ms. Strong herself had asked for.”

So with this being said, can we all cool the jets a little bit? We don’t want Cecily to do anything other than whatever she feels is in the best interest of her career, and there’s little doubt that she is a gifted sketch performer. Another way to look at this? It means that we could see the return of The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party, who was arguably our favorite guest at the desk next to Stefon when she was last around.

Obviously, we are still somewhat surprised by the move, if for no other reason than that we didn’t particularly love Colin Josh when he was in the anchor desk. Who knows, though? They’ve obvious done tests, and maybe he alongside Michael Che have figured something out.

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Photo: NBC