The Real Reason Ellen Pompeo Is Quitting 'Grey's Anatomy'
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She's played Meredith Grey since the ABC drama premiered in 2005.
When Grey's Anatomy returns on Feb. 23, Ellen Pompeo's character will be saying farewell to Seattle.
The Season 19 midseason premiere, titled “I’ll Follow the Sun,” will be Meredith Grey’s last day at Grey Sloan Memorial. The episode, written by Krista Vernoff and directed by Debbie Allen, will see the doctors "plan a goodbye surprise" for Meredith, while Nick (Scott Speedman) "confronts her about the future of their relationship."
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ABC/Nino Muñoz
Also in the midseason premiere, the "interns compete to scrub in on Maggie and Winston's groundbreaking partial heart transplant procedure, and Richard asks Teddy an important question."
A promo for the upcoming episode was released on Wednesday during the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour. “This is where I learned to be a doctor. This is the place where I found my family. The place where I fell in love,” Pompeo’s character says. “Sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything.”
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While Meredith is leaving Grey Sloan Memorial, Pompeo has hinted that fans will see her again. "You know, I'll probably be here next week," Meredith says in the new promo.
Back in November, Pompeo shared that she would "definitely be back to visit." In an Instagram post at the time, the actress wrote, "I am eternally grateful and humbled by the love and support you have all shown me, Meredith GREY and the show for 19 seasons! Through it all….none of it …would have been possible without the best fans in the world. You all are RIDERS and you all have made the ride so fun and ICONIC!!"
She continued, "I love you madly and appreciate you right back. This isn’t your first time on the rollercoaster… you know the show must go on and I’ll definitely be back to visit. With a lot of love and immense gratitude XoE 🙏🏼❤️."
Pompeo previously revealed to E! News and Deadline that she will be back for the finale.
During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in December, Pompeo admitted that she felt "super happy" about her decision to exit the ABC drama after 19 seasons. While the "show has been incredible" to her and she has "loved a lot of the experience," Pompeo explained to Barrymore, “I gotta mix it up a little bit. I’m 53. My brain is like scrambled eggs."
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"I gotta do something new, or I'm gonna literally turn into like ... you know, you can’t do The New York Times crossword puzzle every single day," she continued, “I mean, 19 years, that's longer than people keep their kids in their house. Like, people keep their kids in their house until they’re 18 and then they send them off to college. So this is like me like going away to college, kind of.”
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Despite her exit, Pompeo has said that she is "always" going to "be a part" of Grey's Anatomy. She told Deadline in September 2022, “I’m an executive producer on that show. I've spent two decades of my career on that show. It’s my heart and soul and I’ll never truly be gone as long as that show is on the air.”
Grey’s Anatomy returns Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.
