‘NCIS” co-star Cote de Pablo is leaving TV’s top-rated drama.
But not quite yet.
De Pablo, who’s played Israeli special agent Ziva David for eight seasons on the long-running CBS series starring Mark Harmon, will exit “NCIS” in the upcoming 11th season — but not until David’s storyline is resolved.
“I’ve had eight great years with ‘NCIS’ and Ziva David,” the Chilean-born de Pablo said in a statement. “I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”
There’s no indication how long it will take the “NCIS” writers to wrap up David’s storyline, in which she is avenging the assassination of her father — who once headed the Mossad, Israel’s super-secret intelligence unit — while he was in the US trying to broker peace in the Middle East.
De Pablo, 33, joined “NCIS” in 2005 — the show’s third season — joining Harmon, who plays NCIS chief Jethro Gibbs, and series co-stars Michael Weatherly, Sasha Alexander, Pauley Perrette, Sean Murray, Rocky Carroll and David McCallum.
“NCIS” averaged a leading 22 million viewers last season — terrific numbers for this oversaturated TV age — with its May season finale pulling in 18.2 million viewers.
“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.”