‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Alum Confirms Return Date With First Look Post

Japril fans, rejoice! Sarah Drew announced her return date to Grey’s Anatomy on Twitter, revealing when April Kepner’s long-awaited appearance will take place. “We have a date! April is back on [Grey’s] Thursday, May 6 at 9|8c on ABC! (three smiley emojis),” Drew tweeted. She also included a new photo of the trauma surgeon in deep conversation with her ex-husband, Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams).

Drew left Grey’s Anatomy at the end of season 14 in 2018, and there was some contention around her firing. “I’m a believer in things happening for a reason and finding beauty in the midst of grief,” Drew told People after she was written off the show. “I don’t regret or begrudge anybody this season of my life. I’m embracing it.”

“I was told that the show had too many characters and that they needed to downsize because they couldn’t service all of the characters effectively,” she said to the Hollywood Reporter. “They didn’t want any of us to be left in the background and not getting much of a story. Because there were so many series regulars, they needed to downsize and to find some characters that they felt like they could tie up their stories well.”

“Krista Vernoff said that she felt like April had been through so much and had come out the other side and that she didn’t know what she could put her through again,” Drew continued. “It was really hard to hear that. But Krista had a lot of very complimentary things to say about the work that I had done — especially this past season — and that April was going to have her happy ending.”

Kepner’s story ended with her marrying Matthew (Justin Bruening) and leaving Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital behind. However, Drew did admit that she was sad that April and Jackson had not ended up together. “

“In the midst of it, I was devastated that Jackson and April wasn’t an endgame,” she told THR. “I thought Jackson and April were meant to get back together and they were going to get married again and realize they’d been crazy and it was just going to be this long, slow burn.”

Is there still hope for a Japril endgame with Drew returning to the show? The length of her guest arc hasn’t yet been revealed, but fans are hoping that the estranged couple could still find their way back to each other.