By India McCarty
HGTV star Hilary Farr is ready to face “new challenges” as she leaves LOVE IT OR LIST IT after 19 seasons.
“I’ve given it so many years of my life,” she shared during a recent interview with PEOPLE. “It’s got me through hard times. It’s got the audiences through hard times. It has evolved into a mainstay of people’s lives and it’s been incredibly gratifying. But now it’s time for me to move on and meet new challenges.”
Farr continued, “I realized that everything that I am as a woman, which is [that I] look for challenges, look for inspiration, look for new ideas, be excited about all the possibilities that are out there, had really needed to bloom and to find their way. I told everyone I’m done.”
She revealed that she had been planning on saying goodbye to LOVE IT OR LIST IT a year before the news was announced.
“I thought that everyone had accepted it, but they hadn’t,” she recalled, adding that “Everyone came back and said, ‘So, LOVE IT OR LIST IT?’”
Farr said she had to “rethink it again and really examine it, did I want to go back to or not? With all the love in the world, the answer was no. It’s just time.”
As for the LOVE IT OR LIST IT crew, Farr “wish[es] them all the luck in the world.”
“And I would probably tune in and watch it,” she added.
Her former co-host David Visentin told TV Insider he and Farr “will be friends forever.”
“I love her,” he continued. “You can’t work with somebody for that long and not appreciate them as a human being and have love for them. I appreciate everything she gave to this show since 2008. I mean, it got to be where it is because of her.”
Visentin’s new co-host, Page Turner, was equally complimentary of Farr, telling TV Insider, “I would never try to replace anybody because I can’t. I wouldn’t even take on that responsibility and I don’t want to.”
“This is a legacy show,” she continued. “I’m not here to erase that, I couldn’t if I wanted to. But I am here to bring Page and bring my experience and bring my design and add on to his nerves. That’s what I’m here to do. And to carry on this journey and this legacy of such an iconic show.”
Related: Hilary Farr Leaves LOVE IT OR LIST IT: ‘Incredibly Gratifying’
In an interview with Country Living, Turner shared, “Change is hard for people. So I knew the mantle I was carrying was very heavy and there were private moments where I was like, oh, this is a lot, Page. There’s a lot riding on this show. I knew it was a heavy opportunity, but I knew I was strong enough to carry it.”
While LOVE IT OR LIST IT fans are sad to see Farr go, they’re just as excited to see what Turner will bring to the table in the new season!
Read Next: ‘Thank You God’: New LOVE IT OR LIST IT Designer Celebrates HGTV Role
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