Renowned actress and comedian Kate McKinnon, along with other SNL mainstays Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, exited Saturday Night Live after the 2021-2022 season. Both Byrant and McKinnon joined the show in 2012 and were left brokenhearted after announcing their leave.
Speaking to NBC News, Byrant said, “If it weren’t for Covid, I probably would have left a few years earlier.” She went on to clarify:
“But it was such a huge change. When Covid hit, it was so jarring that we were all like, ‘I’m definitely going to come back next year.’ And then I had to shoot ‘Shrill’ for half of last season, and so I missed a lot. And then it was like, ‘Well, now I should go back one more.’ I kept trying to seek one last normal year. This year wasn’t the normal year that I hoped for, but it was closer to that. It was like, ‘OK, it’s really time now.’ And 10 felt like a nice, solid round number.”
After Byrant explained her reasoning for leaving, McKinnon agreed to an interview on the talk show Live with Kelly and Ryan to touch on the subject with a brief yet poignant statement. When asked by Kelly Ripa if it was hard to leave SNL, McKinnon replied:
“I mean, I thought about it for a very long time and it was very, very hard because, I mean, all I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on Saturday Night Live, and so I did, I loved it, I had the best decade, and then I was just like, my body was tired and I felt like it was time.”
Ryan Seacrest followed on to ask what McKinnon does with her Saturday nights after exiting the live comedy sketch show. She said:
“I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know that I can watch the show yet because it’s just too emo, because I miss everyone so much. I mean, it’s my family for sure. I mean, I love my family ⏤ hello, my family ⏤ but, you know, it’s my other family and it’s too emo, so I think I’m just gonna, like, tape The Bachelorette and watch it on Saturday.”
Additionally, McKinnon revealed that she watched the previous season of The Bachelor (Clayton’s season) and feels like she knows both Gabby and Rachel despite not knowing them personally.
“I don’t know them, I feel that I know them. I went through their journey with them. Don’t get me started on their previous journey. They’re both incredible women and I wish them the best and I can’t wait to watch on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.”
As far as her filmography and the continuation of her cinematic career, the 38-year-old American recently completed voiceover work for DC Comics’ latest animated endeavor: DC League of Super-Pets. McKinnon also stars in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie alongside Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Emma Mackey, and Will Ferrell. Moreover, she has been confirmed to appear as the main character Grunhilda in a live-action adaptation of The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke.