Spoiler alert: Don’t read on if you’re an “NCIS” fan who doesn’t want to know what happens in advance.

Cote de Pablo has a message for her “NCIS” fans: This time, it was personal. Really.

The 33-year-old Chilean American actress is leaving CBS’ crime smash early this season after playing Mossad-agent-turned-NCIS-operative Ziva David since 2005. Fans have taken online to express their outrage and disappointment, as De Pablo had become one of the most popular actors on TV with her portrayal of the wily agent.

Producers have said that De Pablo left on her own terms, which she has confirmed. But beyond that, she’s not explaining much about her sudden exit, other than that it all happened very quickly.


FULL COVERAGE: Fall TV preview 2013

“As far as my decision to leave, that’s a personal thing, and I’d rather leave it at that,” she told TV Guide in an interview. “The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing — at times terrifying.”

However, De Pablo did unleash one scoop that should put to rest the rampant speculation about how the writers will dispatch her character in the first few episodes this season. (Seriously, if you don’t like spoilers, this is the place to stop reading. Right here.)

“The greatest thing about this last episode is that Ziva doesn’t die,” she said in the interview. “As long as a character doesn’t die, the character can always come back. Not that it would actually matter, because we bring back characters from the dead all the time on ‘NCIS’!”


Yes, you read that right. Ziva doesn’t die. That should relieve some of the fans’ anger about how Sasha Alexander was dispatched from “NCIS” in the season 2 finale.

What do you think of De Pablo and her departure from “NCIS”?

ALSO:

Apple issues credit to angry ‘Breaking Bad’ fans


‘Dexter’ finale: Fans unhappy with how it all ended

Mark Harmon: Cote de Pablo exit ‘another change’ for ‘NCIS’