Tuesday was a rough day for Days of Our Lives fans as the news quickly spread that Alison Sweeney would be leaving the show after playing Sami Brady for the past 21 years. Today, daytime diehards can breathe a sigh of relief.

Sweeney announced on The Ellen Degeneres Show that she was leaving Days to spend more time with her family and pursue other creative endeavors. It’s definitely not because the show is any trouble of being cancelled. In fact, NBC announced today that the network is renewing Days for two more years with a contract running through September 2016. The show will get to celebrate their 50th anniversary on November 2015.

The ever-popular soap opera explores the lives of the Brady and Horton clans along with their many friends and enemies in the fictitious town of Salem. Jennifer Salke, who is president of NBC Entertainment, spoke of the continued success of the show. “Days has shown year-to-year increases in key female demographics and remains both relevant and fresh creatively due to the hard work of the producers, writers, cast and crew who have worked tirelessly to make Days the ratings success it is today.”

The show is currently airing its 48th season yet the key demographic of women 18-49 is running higher than it has in the past three years. January’s fourth quarter ratings went up 9% in total viewers over last year and the show also experienced its biggest quarter in four years.

Sweeney will stay on for the remainder of the season. It will be interesting to see whether the 21 year vet’s exit from the show will have any impact on ratings. Her character Sami Brady certainly brings a lot of drama to Salem and is known to Days of Our Lives fans as a character that they love to hate.

@Ali_Sweeney This is sad news indeed. But you are a great actor and a great friend and I will always cherish the incredible times we've had.

— galen gering (@galengering) January 22, 2014

.@Ali_Sweeney announced on @TheEllenShow that she's leaving @DaysofourLives. Or was it her evil twin? Oh, it was her. http://t.co/J9D4jiVuxA

— hulu (@hulu) January 21, 2014

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