I remember that she left for a couple of years and started a business of her own with silver jewelry. Apparently that didn't go very well.
There were some rumors that something had happened to her husband's job and she needed tocome back. Also some other rumors that she really left because she wanted to get braces on her teeth and didn't want to appear on air wearingthem.
Who really knows and honestly who really cares. But it does annoy me a bit when she says she's been there for X number of years when she really was gone for about two or so.