For the past two decades years, Alison Sweeney has been known to many soap audiences for her portrayal of Samantha "Sami" Brady on NBC Daytime's "Days of our Lives." Now, after 22 years, the actress and character say goodbye to the fictional town of Salem. While Sweeney has officially been done taping since May, the character of Sami will be last seen on October 30, 2014. We spoke with her about how she came to the decision to leave a role that has been a huge part of her life for so long:

"It has been a big part of my life for a long time. It was a tough decision to walk away, for sure. Also, it was very emotional. I had to look at it logically and make the best decision for me and my family. Fortunately, it was the right time for me to move on and do something different. I want to try some new things and give myself a lot more free time to be with my family. Luckily, the 'DAYS' family was so understanding of it, and sent me off wishing me the best. However, it's been hard to go."

While we may have seen the last of Sami in Salem, expect Sweeney to be back at her former soap home to direct more episodes, as well as directing another episode of ABC Daytime's "General Hospital." Aside from directing and being an actress, Sweeney also is an author, and has written two non-fiction ("The Mommy Diet;" "All the Days of My Life (So Far)") and two fiction ("Scared Scriptless;" "The Star Attraction") books. She also is the host of the hit NBC reality series, "The Biggest Loser." Alison gave her thoughts on seeing the contestants on the reality series try to achieve their goals and want to better their lives:

"It's so motivating and inspiring to be with them, and see them fight for want they want and get their health back. They even make little changes along the way to slowly regain their health. Unfortunately, it IS a hard road. It's so easy to slip off the path and end up overeating, or slow down on your workouts. One day leads to the next and you find yourself overweight. Fighting to get your health back is a really hard journey. To watch them claw away at that, get their health back, and conquer it is really spectacular."

As we celebrate Sami's last days in Salem, we spoke more with Ali about our favorite Samantha Gene moments, as well as more on "The Biggest Loser."

We want to know...what were some of YOUR favorite Sami moments since her 22 years in Salem? We at THE BUZZ would love to hear them!

You can follow Alison Sweeney on Twitter: @Ali_Sweeney.

Watch Ali's final performance on "Days of our Lives" on October 30, 2014, as well as catch her hosting "The Biggest Loser" Thursday nights on NBC.