Alison Sweeney of "Days of our Lives" will be leaving the soap opera after 21 years.

Sweeney starred as Sami Brady in the show, and the actress is now ready to move on after the end of this season.

The actress made the announcement while on The Ellen Degeneres Show, saying that she will be leaving the show to spend more time with her family. "I'm celebrating my 21st year... and I decided that it's going to be my last year with the show. I have worked so much, and my daughter just turned 5 and my son is 9, and I just want to be with them."

Sweeney made her television debut on the NBC soap opera at the age of 16 in 1993 and viewers have watched her grow since then. 

Now at 37 she is ready to move on but she revealed that she does not know what will happen to her onscreen character Sami. She told the talk show host: "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."

Sweeney won four Soap Opera Digest Awards for her role as Sami Brady on "Days of Our Lives."

She is married to husband David Sanov.

In 2013, Sweeney released her first book, "The Star Attraction." The actress also told Ellen Degeneres her plans to write a second book. "I'm really just excited to be with my kids and be with my husband and, I don't know, have fun. And I write. My second book's coming out. I love directing and just, you know, finding things to do."

The Days of Our Lives star has also been the host of "The Biggest Loser" reality show since 2007.