It's time to say farewell to Sami Brady! (We never thought we'd see this day and we're not sure we're ready.)

Alison Sweeney, who has been portraying the irresistible schemer and undeniable heroine Samantha Brady on the NBC soap opera "Days of Our Lives" for the last 22 years, is finally parting ways with the show. The actress is reportedly leaving the show to focus on her job as host on "The Biggest Loser" and to direct ABC's daytime drama "General Hospital."

Sweeney's last air date on "Days" was Oct. 30 and, in the wake of her exit, the 38-year-old actress took to Facebook to address the fans who have literally watched her grow up on their television screens. 

"Dear #Days fans,

"Sigh. We've been through a lot together, haven't we? As many of you may know, when I first found out I was auditioning for Days (in September of 1992), I flipped out!! It was quite literally a dream come true for me because I'd been a mildly obsessed Days of our Lives fan for several years. A die-hard Jack & Jennifer fan, I so desperately wanted Hope to not be dead in that vat of acid, I loved her sassy spunk and bad-boy lover. I could go on and on... the point is, I've never forgotten what it felt like to tune in every day, anxious to find out what was going to happen to my favorite character. Yelling at my screen at Stefano, crying when Isabella died in John's - wait, Roman's (???) - arms, grinning ear-to-ear when Frankie & Eve sang Heart & Soul on the train. (why were they on a train??) What I'm trying to say, is that I took that fan experience into every storyline I was involved with over the last two decades. I always felt the audience watching at home. It has always mattered to me to tell the story as best as I possibly could. Whether it was #Ejami, #Lumi, #Safe, #Kami or ... #Sole, or somewhere in between, whether I personally liked the story or not, I did my best to keep Sami true to herself, and played every scene as honestly as I could. I look back through all of it, and am proud of what I accomplished. Proud of the memories, the hard work and the fun times. I'm proud of who I've become as a result of my 21 years in Salem.

"No question - I am #teamSami. I have always rooted for her... to finally stop putting her foot in her mouth, being her own worst enemy, eternally needing her parents approval, oh, this list could go on and on. It's impossible to miss Sami's faults. But I loved her more for them. And I loved playing her faults and her character flaws as much I loved playing the scenes when she persevered! And now it's been only 5 months since I've stopped getting scripts in the mail, and I MISS HER. I miss Sami, her insecurities and her agendas. I miss my friends in the cast and crew who are as close as family to me. And now that you've shared with my Sami's final goodbyes, I will miss all of you. Your compliments and your criticisms. Those of you who loved sami, loved to hate her, and even those of you who couldn't wait to get Sami off your screens (though, those people probably aren't reading my FB page, I guess. lol.) I hope you all keep up with me at Biggest Loser, and the other projects I work on. I look forward to staying in touch with all of you here and on Twitter. I'm still going to be around okay?! so this isn't really goodbye. At least it isn't goodbye for me. This is just my opportunity to say a great big, sincere, tearful, THANK YOU. For everything. Every cheer, every tear, every tweet, post and letter. Thank you for investing in me and my character.

#LOVE,

Ali"

We'll miss you Alison Sweeney! Here's hoping you keep the door open to return to Salem one day!