Ellen Pompeo will be taking an extended break from Grey’s Anatomy (Picture: Getty)
*Warning: Contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy.*
Grey’s Anatomy has been teasing actress Ellen Pompeo’s big exit for some time now, and a new preview has revealed when her exit will happen.
The long-running medical drama began in 2005 and has followed the lives of Pompeo’s Dr. Meredith Grey and her colleagues ever since.
And now Pompeo, 53, who has starred as Dr. Meredith for 19 seasons, looks as though she’ll be leaving when the show returns in 2023.
In the latest episode, entitled Thunderstruck, Meredith sent an email to staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to say she’d accepted a new job.
That new job would take her away from Seattle, USA, over to Boston – Grey’s Anatomy is unlikely to follow Meredith across the country.
And in the latest teaser for the next episode, set for release in February, it appears Grey’s Anatomy’s next outing will be Pompeo’s last.
In the clip, Meredith has a farewell party thrown for her by her colleagues in Sloan, and she begins to say her final goodbyes.
In recent years, Grey’s Anatomy has begun casting more experienced and notable actors Harry Shum Jr. (Crazy Rich Asians, Glee) and Adelaide Kane (This Is Us), possibly to fill the hole that Pompeo could potentially be leaving behind.
Her departure means that only Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey) and James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber) remain from the original 2005 cast.
Ellen Pompeo has portrayed Meredith Grey on the medical drama since 2005 (Picture: ABC/Getty)
The move comes after Pompeo signed on to executive produce and star in an unknown limited Disney series.
It emerged shortly after that news broke that Pompeo would only be appearing in eight episodes of Grey’s Anatomy’s 19th season.
The winter premiere, featuring the goodbye party, is titled I’ll Follow the Sun, and will count as Pompeo’s seventh appearance of the season.
This means that Pompeo isn’t completely finished just yet, with many fans anticipating her return in the season finale in the spring.
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Not only that, but Pompeo will continue to perform Meredith’s signature voiceover and is still attached as an executive producer on the series.
In recent months, actress Sarah Drew, who played Dr. April Kepner on Grey’s, teased a spin-off with fellow star Jesse Williams.
Grey’s Anatomy is available to stream on Disney Plus in the UK.
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She has played Dr. Meredith Grey since 2005.
