Shemar Moore discusses his departure from 'Criminal Minds'

Actor Shemar Moore shocked his fans when he announced that he would be leaving the CBS drama Criminal Minds after 11 seasons.

We mentioned the departure in our Top 10 moments from "A Beautiful Disaster" list,  and today Moore appeared on The Talk and shared more about his decision to leave the show after over a decade. Although Moore will no longer appear on the show he assured his fans that would always be his "Baby Girls."

"Let me get this out of the way right now," Moore said, "Baby Girl Nation is for life."

He then went on to allude to a possible return of his character some day saying, "The elevator doors closed but they can always open up again."

The actor also told the ladies of The Talk that leaving Criminal Minds was less of a decision and more of a feeling.

"The analogy I use is a turkey sandwich might be really good for you and really delicious but when you eat a turkey sandwich every day for 11 years, sometimes you just want to try something else," he explained.

Moore said Criminal Minds was like college for him and that it helped him become a better actor but now he was ready for grad school. He cited George Clooney and Denzel Washington as examples of actors who left successful gigs on television shows to have even more success on the big screen.

"I just want to see what I'm capable of," he said.

You can watch more of the interview below: