Kate McKinnon Explains ‘Saturday Night Live’ Exit, Says Leaving Was “Very, Very Hard’

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Kate McKinnon says she thought about leaving Saturday Night Live “for a very long time” before finally arriving at the decision to end her 11-season stint.“I thought about it for a very long time, and it was very, very hard,” McKinnon said on today’s episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan. “All I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on Saturday Night Live, 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.”McKinnon’s final episode in May included her recurring sketch character Colleen Rafferty, a frequent UFO abductee, taking off in an alien spaceship. “I always kind of felt like an alien on this planet anyway,” McKinnon-as-Colleen said by way of goodbye.Asked today whether she’ll be watching SNL this coming season, McKinnon expressed doubt. “I don’t know what I will do,” she said. “I don’t know if I can watch the show yet.

It’s just too emo because I miss everyone so much. I mean, it’s my family for sure – my other family. I think I’m just going to tape The Bachelorette and watch that instead.”Watch the interview above.Broadcast networks’ fall lineups and schedulesNew and returning series on broadcast, cable and streamingSeries that made it or didn’t make it in 2021-22