Cecily Strong: This weekend’s ‘SNL’ episode will be the last for former Chicagoan

The exodus of “Saturday Night Live” veterans continues with the departure of Cecily Strong, ending a run that was the longest ever for a woman performer on the show.

“Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it,” the show posted on its Instagram account, just two hours before the live broadcast of 2022’s last episode. “We’ll miss you, Cecily!”

The former Chicagoan is scheduled to appear on this weekend’s episode, closing out a tenure slightly longer than Kate McKinnon’s run that ended in May.

Over more than a decade on “SNL,” Strong delivered several popular characters, including the Weekend Update commentators Cathy Anne and Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party, the “Girlfriends Talk Show” co-host Kyra and the “Science Show” participant Lonnie.

She also appeared multiple times as famous figures including Judge Jeanine Pirro, Rep. Liz Cheney and Melania Trump.

Strong’s fans got a scare at the beginning of the season when her name disappeared from the “SNL” opening credits. It turned out she was taking a leave of absence to star in a play in Los Angeles, and she was back for the season’s fourth episode.

Her permanent exit follows the departure of eight cast members — McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari — in spring at the end of Season 47.

Like many “SNL” veterans, Strong has been diversifying her resume with work outside of 30 Rock. In addition to the Los Angeles play — “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe,” a one-woman show she also did in New York — she stars with Keegan-Michael Key in the Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon,” which aired its first season in 2021 and recently completed shooting Season 2.

Strong grew up in Oak Park and spent several years in Chicago performing in plays as well as sketch and improv shows at Second City and iO.