Hilary Farr Is Choosing to List It by Leaving 'Love It or List It' After 19 Seasons on the Show

The Gist:

• After 19 Seasons as co-host, Hilary Farr is leaving Love It or List It.
• She is extremely grateful for her time on the show, but is looking for new challenges.
• Hilary and her co-host David Visentin are friends in real life, and will remain so.
• You can still watch her host Tough Love with Hilary Farr.

Upon learning that Hilary Farr has decided to step away from HGTV's popular show Love It or List It, I immediately called my mother. It doesn't matter what my mom is doing, if Love It or List It appears on her television, she always stop to watch. She loves it. With so many home renovation and/or flip it shows to choose from, it's easy to see why this one has lasted for 15 years and remains popular.

Beyond the fact that Hilary and her co-host David Visentin are incredibly good at what they do, it's their relationship that keeps viewers glued to the screen. They joke, bicker, and lovingly poke fun at each other in a way that is familiar to anyone who has a best friend. This begs the question, why is Hilary Farr leaving Love It or List It and who will David tease now?

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Hilary shared that it was simply time to "move on and meet new challenges." The home designer has happily dedicated much of her life to the show, and is beyond grateful the experience. "t'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," she told the outlet.

Although this may come as a shock to fans, Hilary knew this was coming for quite some time. In fact, she made the difficult decision at the end of Season 19. "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," Hilary said. "I told everyone I'm done."

To live in a world where there is a David but no Hilary is like asking us to have a sun without the moon, or peanut butter without jelly. At the risk of being dramatic, it hardly seems possible. After telling David that she wasn't coming back, Hilary said he didn't believe her. "Oh, you say that," he said to her. Honestly, Hilary had trouble believing it herself.

When Season 20 began filming, multiple people asked if she was coming back. "I thought that everyone had accepted it, but they hadn't," said Hilary. Take a number, we are struggling as well. Unfortunately, this is not a bad dream. HIlary patiently explained to folks on the show, "With all the love in the world, the answer was no. It's just time."

It's not often that two people who work so closely together, develop an actual friendship outside of the "office," but that's precisely what happened between David and Hilary. "We are who we are [in real life] on that show. Think of your brother as his most obnoxious and annoying, that's David," she told PEOPLE. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 which resulted in three lumpectomies and radiation, David was there. Hilary doesn't see that changing.

When it comes to the show, Hilary is also certain it will go on. As of the time of this writing, a new co-host has yet to be announced but she is absolutely rooting for them. "I wish them all the luck in the world,” Hilary said. "And I would probably tune in and watch it." If you need a Hilary fix in a post-Love It or List It world, she will still be hosting Tough Love with Hilary Farr which the designer says she "enjoys in a different way."