Kate McKinnon is giving her body the rest it needs.
The comedian departed Saturday Night Live alongside Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson following the season 47 finale, and while it wasn't an easy decision, it was the right one. "All I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on Saturday Night Live," Kate shared on Live With Kelly and Ryan July 21. "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."
SNL will return for its 48th season this fall, but when Ryan Seacrest asked if she'll be tuning in, she said, "I don't know what I will do. I don't know that I can watch the show yet because it's too emo because I miss everyone so much. It's my family."
Instead, she's thinking she'll stick to The Bachelorette.
Not that Kate has a ton of time to just watch TV. She's booked and busy, with an upcoming role in Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie movie, starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie.
Kate previously promised that the movie is going to be a good one, gushing about the script in an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "It's one of the greatest things I've ever read," she told Jimmy Fallon in February. "Just you wait."
Suffice to say, Lorne Michaels truly set up his cast for post-SNL success. While Kate is off skating through Venice with Barbie and Ken, Aidy Bryant is developing the animated Peacock series Cheeky, and Pete Davidson is set to star in the Peacock series Bumpkis, a fictionalized take on his own life.
Though it's hard to see such talent leave SNL, Aidy said that the executive producer is supportive. "I went to his office and was like, 'I gotta talk to you,'" Aidy told Variety. "I was scared because I feel close to him and so grateful to him. I didn't want it to come off like I was leaving angrily. I am leaving with so much love. He was like, 'I understand, and it makes sense for you.'"
Pete even gave Lorne a sweet shoutout in a farewell letter, writing, "I owe Lorne Michaels and everyone at SNL my life. Im so grateful and I wouldn't be here without them."
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