( EW.com ) -- Alison Sweeney — who has spent 21 years in NBC daytime playing the popular character Sami Brady — will leave `` Days of Our Lives . '' Sweeney announced her decision on `` The Ellen DeGeneres Show '' Tuesday . The 5 best critic vs. celeb fights at TCA . `` I 'm celebrating my 21st year ... and I decided that it 's going to be my last year with the show , '' she says . `` I have worked so much , and my daughter just turned 5 and my son is 9 , and I just want to be with them . '' The actress is expected to leave the sudser at the end of the season . Sweeney first joined the soap in 1993 and went on to win a special fan award from the Daytime Emmys in 2002 . She also moonlights as host on `` The Biggest Loser '' and has authored books like `` All the Days of My Life ( So Far ) '' and `` The Star Attraction . '' See the original story on EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Alison Sweeney will leave `` Days of Our Lives '' at the end of the season . She 's played Sami Brady for 21 years . Sweeney announced her decision on `` Ellen '' Sweeney said she was leaving after 22 seasons, and that it would be a surprise if she didn't return to the show again in some capacity.