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Alison Sweeney Leaving Days of Our Lives After 21 Years on Soap Opera

Allison Sweeney appears on Ellen

Like sands through the hourglass, these were the days of Alison Sweeney's life — emphasis on were! After 21 years, the actress, 37, will be leaving beloved soap opera Days of Our Lives in 2014, she announced on the Tuesday, Jan. 21 Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sweeney joined the NBC daytime series in January 1993 — at age 16 — to originate the role of Samantha "Sami" Brady.

Related: PHOTOS: Stars' soap opera beginnings!

Now a married mother of two, the Daytime Emmy Award winner has impressively been holding down two TV jobs for the past seven years — serving as the host of The Biggest Loser since 2007. "I have never had more than a two-week vacation [since I began Days] in that whole time and yeah," Sweeney explained to Ellen DeGeneres. "It's [been] awesome. I love Sami, I love Salem, I love my job, I love daytime, I love the fans, I love everything about it."

Related: PHOTOS: Kid stars grown up

What made Sweeney finally decide to walk away? "My daughter just turned 5 and my son is 9, and I just want to be with them and enjoy my last year," she reasoned. "I'm going to be on Days all this year," she assured fans, adding that there's "no specific time yet" for her final episode. "We'll see what happens!"

Related: PHOTOS: Celeb retirements

How would she like fans to say goodbye to Salem resident Sami? "I mean it would be awesome to have some kind of happy ending, but then I also think Sami probably deserves some sort of very twisted like Breaking Bad ending, I don't know," she joked, adding that Days' writers have "amazing imaginations. Sami has certainly caused he fair share of drama over the last 21 years. It will be 22 and I don't even know what happens next!"

Though leaving is bittersweet, "I'm really just excited to be with my kids and be with my husband and . . . have fun. And I write, my second book’s coming out and I love directing!"

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