Steve Carell was one of the biggest reasons for the success of The Office on NBC, thanks to his portrayal of the extremely inappropriate but loveable idiot Michael Scott, manager of his branch of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. That's why his departure in the seventh season of the series really took a toll on the show's quality, and it never really recovered until near the end of the final season. It was thought Steve Carell was ready to move on to bigger things, but what if we tell you he didn't want to leave the show at all?

This week saw the release of a new book called The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Rolling Stone journalist Andy Greene. The book provides an oral history of the entire series, speaking with the cast and crew, getting the inside scoop on the happenings behind the scenes, and much more. One of the biggest revelations in the book.

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In a recently released behind-the-scenes book about The Office, a crew member noted that after Carell mentioned Season 7 of The Office would probably be his `last year` during an interview, he received no reaction from NBC.

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The chatter around Steve Carell leaving The Office began in April of 2010 when the actor mentioned that he might be leaving the show when his contract ran out at the end of the seventh season. Many thought this could have been a tactic on Carell's behalf to begin new contract negotiations, but when it was revealed that Steve Carell was actually leaving during season seven, it was assumed that he wanted to dedicate more time to his film career. It turns out neither was really true.