‘SNL’ Picks Cecily Strong As Next ‘Weekend Update’ Anchor

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels has confirmed that Cecily Strong will be the next “Weekend Update” anchor.

Strong will co-anchor with Seth Meyers, but Michaels said he planed to have her transition into a solo role after the 39-year-old moves to Late Night next February.

“Cecily, from the first show, was right there,” Michaels said in an interview with the New York Times. “She exploded.”

Michaels said that he hoped Meyers would stay on “Weekend Update” even after moving to Late Night.

“Seth is a unique case,” Michaels — who is an executive producer on Late Night — said. Since the late night talk show doesn’t have a Friday edition, Meyers could potentially work that day and Saturday on “Weekend Update.”

Seth Meyers is just one of many cast members leaving Saturday Night Live next season. Fred Armisen, Jason Sudeikis, and Bill Hader have all announced their departures from the show in one of the biggest cast changes in the show’s four-decade history. Six new cast members have been added to the sketch comedy.

“I was there for a long time and I also felt like I came away from Saturday Night Live feeling very well represented. I felt, and I still feel like, they let me do so much stuff that I wanted to do,” Armisen said.

Sudeikis said no one ever really leaves the show, citing Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph’s recent returns to the sketch comedy.

Hader said that the decision to leave was a hard one, but that it “has to happen at same point.”

Cecily Strong, who joined SNL last season, first appeared on “Weekend Update” as The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party. Strong has admitted that the character is a favorite of hers, and SNL alum Jimmy Fallon praised the character during an interview on Late Night.