"Days of Our Lives" star Greg Vaughan announced his exit from the long-running soap opera. The surprising announcement comes days after another long-time cast member Kristian Alfonso announced her departure.

According to Deadline, Greg Vaughan, who plays the role of lead character Eric Brady, shocked fans with the news during his interview with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson on their That's Awesome podcast. Vaughan who received Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2018 for his character revealed that he has "finished my reign at Days."

As per the actor, he made the decision in the wake of contract negotiations with the network. "Days was going through a renewal negotiation and not knowing where they were going to go. I just felt my time was coming to an end anyways," he added.

During the podcast, he did give his fans a shout out and a promise that he may return someday. "For all my Days fans that are listening, I love you all... it's never over, so I'm not gonna say it's over," he said. "I'm taking a break, if you will," Vaughan said.

Vaughan has played the role of Eric Brady for eight years, joining the cast in the year 2012. The show veteran has also appeared on other daytime series such as "The Young and the Restless" and "General Hospital." Apart from that, he has also appeared in "Charmed," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Queen Sugar" and more.

Earlier this month, Vaughan's co-star and "Days of Our Lives" cast member Alfonso announced her exit after 37 years on the show. She played the role of Hope Williams Brady. Speaking with ET, she shared the moment when she decided to take a different direction.

She revealed that she made her decision when the executive producer Ken Corday told her that they are planning to write her character off with a promise of return.

"And at that moment I thought to myself, you know what, it's time for a change and it was the perfect moment to make that decision," Alfonso said in the interview. "I was taken aback when he said that they wanted, he and [producer] Albert wanted to take me off camera for four to five months. It was not something that had ever been discussed but that's what it was, and to come back in five to six months, or four to five months -- whatever that time frame was -- I just thought, you know what, it's time to really write a new chapter,"

Days Of Our Lives
Kristian Alfonso as Hope Williams in Days of Our Lives NBC

In January, "Days of Our Lives" was renewed for a run through September 2021. However, they were forced to suspend the production due to virus outbreak.