‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Ellen Pompeo Explains Why She Won’t Leave the Show

Grey’s Anatomy will never say goodbye to Dr. Meredith Grey.

After Ellen Pompeo exited the long-running ABC medical drama as a series regular in Season 19, she’s continued to appear in a recurring capacity and provide the voiceovers for the beginning and end of each episode.

The executive producer, 55, told EL PAÍS her reason for initially stepping away, saying, “I’ve been doing it for 20 years, so it was time to step away. I have three children, and I love spending time with them and I love being involved in their lives. I’m very lucky to be able to get to work sometimes and take time off. I have a nice balance in my life.”

While it seemed like Pompeo wanted to move on to other projects, and she has, appearing in Hulu’s Good American Family, she is not completely leaving the show in her rearview. But she has a good reason. Pompeo admitted it “would make no sense, emotionally or financially.”

“The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times,” she continued. “The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces. If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn’t make any money. To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.”

Fans shouldn’t expect Meredith to make a full-time return to Grey Sloan since she is still wanting to do roles different from the medical drama. But with Grey’s now renewed for Season 22, Pompeo will be sticking around as executive producer and to provide the narration for each episode. As of now, it’s unknown how many episodes she will be appearing in as Meredith Grey, but fans can expect at least a few. More information on Season 22 will likely be announced in the coming months.

In the meantime, Pompeo can currently be seen in the Hulu limited series Good American Family, which is based on a true story. New episodes of the series drop on Wednesdays. New episodes of Grey’s Anatomy air on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.