Kate McKinnon: ‘I don’t know if I can watch SNL anymore’

Kate McKinnon doesn’t know if she can watch ‘Saturday Night Live’ anymore.

The 38-year-old comedian admitted that the decision to leave the show after a decade was “very, very difficult” and she is unsure if she will be able to watch it now that she is no longer involved.

Speaking on ‘Live With Kelly and Ryan’, Kate said: “I thought about it for a very long time, and it was very, very hard. 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.

“I don’t know what I will do. 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 other family. It’s too emo. So, I think I’m just going to tape ‘The Bachelorette’ and watch it.”

Kate joined ‘SNL’ in 2012 and was the show’s first openly lesbian cast member. She also had the longest tenure of any female performer on the show.

She won two Emmys for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series during her time on ‘SNL’ and is in the running for a third this year.

McKinnon left the show at the end of season 47, alongside Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney.

Speaking previously about her own departure, Bryant – who also joined the cast in 2012 – said: “If it weren’t for COVID, I probably would have left a few years earlier. 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.”