Cote de Pablo Exiting NCIS

Cote de Pablo will exit NCISafter eight seasons with the series, TVGuide.com has learned.

De Pablo, who plays Ziva David on the series, will not return as a series regular for Season 11, which kicks off this fall. Instead, producers are working to find a way to wrap up her story line. De Pablo joined the series in Season 3 after the exit of Sasha Alexander, whose character was killed off after two seasons.

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"I've had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David," De Pablo said in a statement. "I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva's story."

In February, CBS renewed the series for an 11th season after extending their contract with star and executive producer Mark Harmon. De Pablo then became the only castmember without a deal for Season 11.

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"We respect Cote's decision, thank her for being an important part of the NCIS team, and for eight terrific years playing Ziva David," CBS said in a statement. "Cote and CBS share a great respect for the NCIS audience, and we look forward to working with her and the producers on appropriate closure in this chapter of Ziva's story."

Will you miss Ziva? How do you think she should leave the series? Hit the comments!

NCIS returns Tuesday, Sept. 24 on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)