Why Cote de Pablo Left 'NCIS'

NCIS fans were absolutely gutted by the announcement Cote de Pablo's would be leaving the hit show after eight years -- this morning, CBS boss Les Moonves revealed they did not make her decision to depart easy!

"We offered Cote de Pablo a lot of money -- and then we offered her even more money," Moonves said from the stage at CBS' Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour in Beverly Hills.

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"We really didn't want to lose her, we love her. We think she's terrific. We obviously were in discussions… and ultimately she decided she didn't want to do the show. It was her decision. We don't like losing anybody. We did everything humanly possible [and] exhausted every possibility."

VIDEO - Cote de Pablo Gets Glam

In July after announcing her departure, Cote de Pablo told ET, "I've had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David. 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."

NCIS season 11 premieres September 24 on CBS.