Is Ellen Pompeo leaving Grey's Anatomy?

Now in its 21st season and with season 22 having just been confirmed by ABC, Pompeo has clarified whether or not we'll be seeing more of her in the future.

Speaking with El País, the actress recently remarked that it "would make no sense, emotionally or financially" to leave Grey's Anatomy. But will Pompeo be leaving the series in the near future? Read on to find out.

Is Ellen Pompeo leaving Grey's Anatomy?

As of now, Ellen Pompeo is not leaving Grey's Anatomy.

Despite scaling back her role in recent seasons, Pompeo is here to stay as a fixture – albeit one that we won't be seeing in every episode.

Pompeo assured fans she's here to stay for the future, citing the fact that it wouldn't make any sense for her to walk away from a show that has served her both emotionally and financially.

She said: "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."

She added: "Emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show."

More recently, the star spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about her future on Grey's Anatomy and whether she can see herself sticking with it to the very end.

She revealed: "I can't really speak to that because I don't know when the show will end.

"I do know that I'm very grateful for having this 21-season run on the show, and that place is very special to me, and the show is very special to me, and the love that I get from the fans is very special. So I sort of try to stay in the present."

Pompeo continued: "I don't know what will be in the future, and I know that it's important to everybody involved that I stay involved a little bit and I appreciate that.

"So I'm happy that I have the privilege to be able to dip in there and dip out and get the opportunity to do other things and explore my creative opportunities, but also get to still be a part of that. It's nothing, really, but a privilege."

While we may not be seeing the same amount of Pompeo as we once did in the series, the actress remains as the iconic narrator.

At the time of the announcement of her reduced role back in 2022, Pompeo assured fans and said in an interview with Deadline: "[Grey’s is] still gonna be just fine without me — I’m still gonna do the voice-over. I’m gonna put the same heart and passion into that."

Of course, Pompeo remains an executive producer on the series as well, but she seems to be balancing other roles at the moment. She has more recently starred in Good American Family, where she takes on one of the lead roles as Kristine Barnett, a woman who adopts a Ukrainian girl and then accuses her of lying about her age.

Grey's Anatomy seasons 1 to 21 are available to stream on Disney+ now – sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now. Season 18 is also available on Sky and NOW with new episodes airing on Sky Witness in the UK.

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