Well, my initial understanding was that's what happened - she did a big press blitz about it at the time, then she started turning up with Tina on any show Tina did to promote her new tour/album/whatever. It was weird, lol. She did go directly from ER to Tina Turner, they happened at the same time (and she got the gig with Tina while prepping to leave, that much is true). But as it happens, I looked into it today and in an interview from when she returned to the show for another typically-grim guest spot near the end of the show's run, she does say this, which is more complex than it was presented at the time of her original exit: