Leslie Jones says she 'wasn't very free' on 'Saturday Night Live' and doesn't miss the show 'at all'
- Leslie Jones starred on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" for five seasons, with her last being in 2019.
- The comedian and actress joined the show as a writer and became a featured player and cast member in 2014.
- She recently told Entertainment Tonight and USA Today that she doesn't miss being on the show "at all."
- "That job was hard, man. That job was like two jobs, and very restrictive too. I wasn't very free there," Jones told ET.
Leslie Jones surprised many fans when she announced she was leaving "Saturday Night Live" in 2019 after starring in the sketch-comedy series for five years.
Jones reflected on her decisions to leave the show in a recent interview with Kevin Frazier from Entertainment Tonight, and the actress revealed that she doesn't have any regrets about leaving NBC's Studio 8H.
"I don't miss it. At all," Jones told Frazier. "That job was hard, man. That job was like two jobs, and very restrictive too. I wasn't very free there."
Speaking with Bill Keveny of USA Today, Jones admitted that she learned a lot from the show, and while she misses her former castmate Kenan Thompson, she's excited for fans to "really see Leslie."
"I know that would be terrible for me to just say it like that," Jones told Keveny. "Of course, I learned a lot at 'SNL.' I love what I learned there, but I (was) 47. That's a hard job. It's very restrictive. Now I'm free, and y'all can really see Leslie. You can see what Leslie can do. What I learned there is great, but I don't miss the hundred hours a week."
Jones is now hosting ABC's reboot of the game show "Supermarket Sweep," and she told ET that she has "full creative control" of the show.
"It's just, you know, a comedian's dream come true," Jones said of hosting the game show, which premieres on Sunday.
In August 2019, Jones confirmed she was saying goodbye to "Saturday Night Live" in an Instagram post thanking her castmates and fans — and joked that she is "#NotDeadJustGraduating."
"Everyone needs to know Leslie Jones couldn't have done any of the things I did without these people," Jones wrote in August 2019 of her "Saturday Night Live" castmates.
The comedian joined the series as a writer, and in 2014, became a featured player and cast member. She went on to earn an Emmy nomination for her role on the show. Jones was known for starring in the show's installments of "Weekend Update" and the sketch "Love and Leslie," where she gave comedic updates about her romantic life.
She once portrayed Meghan Markle's third cousin in a sketch about etiquette lessons and also portrayed Whoopi Goldberg in a parody of the "The View," as well as former first lady Michelle Obama.
Nearly one year after Jones' departure from the show, "Saturday Night Live" is filming its 46th season in New York City with a live studio audience after completing its 45th season remotely as a precaution to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.