Alison Sweeney is exiting “Days Of Our Lives” after 21 years on the show. The 37-year-old actress announced her decision to leave her NBC soap character, Samantha “Sami” Brady,” during a guest stint on “The Ellen Show” on Monday.

The news came as a surprise to the U.S. soap opera fans, who had thought Alison would be leaving the show in 2013 after she hit her two-decade mark. As a fan favourite, though, she had easily inked a new deal to stay on the soap.

But apparently, 21 years is her limit.

“I’ve been on ‘Days of Our Lives’ for 21 years and I’m celebrating my 21st year this year,” Alison told host Ellen DeGeneres. “And I decided that it’s going to be my last year on the show.”

She continued, “I’ve been on ‘Days of Our Lives’ since I was 16 years old and I’ve never had more than two weeks vacation in that whole time.

“I mean it’s awesome. I love Sami. I love Salem. I love my job. I love daytime. I love the fans. I love everything about it,” Alison said of her character, whom she has portrayed since 1993. She explained that she’s leaving the show to spend more time with her 9-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.

“I just want to be with them and enjoy my last year.”

Alison said she doesn’t know yet when will her last day air specifically, but she will be on the show the whole year.

As for what would happen to her character, Alison has not idea yet, although she admitted that she’s hoping for a vengeful ending for Sami.

“It would be awesome to have some kind of happy ending, but I also think that maybe Sami deserve some sort of very twisted, like ‘Breaking Bad’ ending. I don’t know. Well, she’s caused a lot of people a lot of problems.”

Indeed, Sami has been introduced as a troublemaker, and was often described as manipulative and vindictive. But her portrayal of the resident bad girl has earned her multiple awards, including Outstanding Villainess at the Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1996, 1998, and 1999.

Staying in the show for 21 years is really a big deal. Sami hasn’t been in every sequence of the show, but it’s not like the soap opera was the only thing that kept her busy all those years. Alison has also been hosting the reality show “The Biggest Loser” since 2007, and has been appearing on various television projects, including a Hallmark Original Movie titled “Second Chances.”

She’s also an author. She released her memoir, “All the Day of My Life (So Far)” in 2004, and penned the novel “The Star Attraction” in 2013.

On top of her professional commitments, she is also a wife and a mother of two.

She plans to write her second novel in the near future.