After 12 years, a billion views and some of the most cringe-inducing celebrity interviews on the internet, Amelia Dimoldenberg is closing the shop. The British comedian announced Thursday via an Instagram carousel that "Chicken Shop Date," the deadpan interview series that turned fried-chicken small talk into a global phenomenon, is ending after its upcoming final season.

The announcement post featured a napkin reading "All good dates must come to an end." In her caption, Dimoldenberg got sentimental about walking away from the format that made her famous: "I never thought I'd stop Chicken Shop Date, I thought maybe it would be a part of me forever, and in some way it always will, but I feel like it's now time to move on from this adventure and onto a new one." She added that she plans "a few final dates… coming very soon" before saying goodbye for good.

From teenage column to global brand

Dimoldenberg started the concept as a written column at age 17 in 2014, interviewing people over fried chicken, before it evolved into the YouTube series that made her name. The channel has grown to more than 3.4 million subscribers and racked up roughly 1 billion views across its run, according to E! News. Its trademark blend of flat affect, greasy food and A-list guests turned it into a launchpad: Dimoldenberg parlayed the show into her own production company, Dimz Inc., and a gig as an Oscars red-carpet correspondent.

"IT'S NOW TIME TO MOVE ON FROM THIS ADVENTURE" — Amelia Dimoldenberg

The guest list reads like a greatest-hits reel of pop culture's last decade: Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney, Drake, Sabrina Carpenter, Andrew Garfield, the Jonas Brothers, Matty Healy and — memorably — Sesame Street's Elmo. Jack Harlow's 2021 appearance became a viral flashpoint in its own right, cementing the show's reputation as a place where celebrities let their guard down in ways slicker press-junket interviews never allow, according to TheWrap's report on the announcement.

Dimoldenberg isn't stepping away from the industry — she's stepping into scripted work that mirrors her own career arc. She's developing a young-adult drama series for the BBC and is set to star in and produce a romantic comedy for Amazon MGM Studios' Orion Pictures, playing a journalist whose life gets upended when a celebrity interview turns into a real relationship — a premise with obvious echoes of the show she's now ending.

What's next: no exact date has been set for the final episodes, with Dimoldenberg only teasing that the last run of interviews is "coming very soon." Fans and past guests are expected to react as the farewell season rolls out, while her BBC and Amazon MGM projects mark her next chapter.