With NCIS: Los Angeles coming to an end, star Daniela Ruah is opening up about her time on the show, and why saying goodbye is so difficult.
ET spoke with Ruah — as well as her Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of the Decades co-host Boomer Esiason — and she explained why she’s “not sad” that the long-running crime procedural is coming to an end, but will miss everything about being a part of the show.
“I’m not sad that it’s ending. I think the show has had an amazing, long run, we’ve told phenomenal stories, the characters have grown and matured on the show in front of everyone,” Ruah shared. “It’s bittersweet.”
“Like, it’s time to move on creatively, but it’s going to be so hard not to be with this family of people, because they are incredible,” she added.
“When you think about the amount of people that approach you and say, ‘This show saved my life. This show is what I used to watch with my parent or my grandparent, before they passed away, and I still watch it because it reminds me of them,'” she shared. “It makes it mean the world to you.”
“I’m so grateful to have been a part of that show,” she added with a smile.
As for her upcoming special, Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of the Decades, Ruah explained why she’s enjoyed being a host on the annual special for several years.
“I think it’s super fun. I love being a part of it,” she said, smiling at her longtime co-host. “And I think every year that passed we find new things to unravel, new jokes, new jabs at each other.”
“You’re so good at that,” Esiason beamed. “I can tell why she’s so liked on her [NCIS:LA] set.”
As for the perpetual and diehard popularity of Super Bowl commercials, and their annual special, Esiason said it’s all about debate and opinions.
“There’s gonna be about 120 million people watching the Super Bowl, and everybody has an opinion,” he shared. “That’s exactly what we’re doing here.”
