9 Ex-'Grey's Anatomy' Stars — How They Left & Where They Are Now
Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke)
For the first three seasons, Washington played Preston Burke, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery and love interest of Cristina Yang. But in 2007, Washington exited the series due to controversy surrounding an alleged homophobic slur against co-star T.R Knight. After that, he initially kept a low profile, but now stars in The CW’s The 100 as Thelonious Jaha.
Kate Walsh (Addison Montgomery)
Walsh’s arrival in the Season 1 finale rocked the relationship between MerDer when her character, Addison, revealed that she was Derek’s wife. Addison remained a main character through Season 3, before heading to L.A. for her six-season spin-off, Private Practice. These days, Walsh stars as Olivia Baker, the mother of suicide victim Hannah in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.
T.R Knight (George O’Malley)
Fans remain heartbroken and will never forget the shocking moment in the Season 5 finale when the John Doe victim of a horrible bus accident was revealed to be George. He succumbed to his injuries, and Knight exited the show. He has since appeared on several series in a recurring capacity, most recently in the Genius anthology on National Geographic
Katherine Heigl
Role: Izzie Stevens
How she left: After battling cancer and getting married, Izzie ran away from Seattle and left Alex all alone in Season 6. We have no idea what Izzie is up to right now (Heigl is over on Suits), so it’s possible she could make a surprise return.
Chyler Leigh (Lexie Grey)
The younger sister of Meredith was portrayed by Leigh for five years until she was tragically killed in a plane crash alongside Mark Sloan. Fans can still follow Leigh as another important sibling — Alex Danvers, the sister of Supergirl on The CW’s Supergirl.
Eric Dane (Mark Sloan)
Along with Lexie, “McSteamy,” as fans called him, perished in the plane crash in the Season 8 finale. After hanging up his scrubs, Dane moved on to the TNT series The Last Ship in 2014, where he played Admiral Tom Chandler through 2017.
Sandra Oh
Role: Cristina Yang
How she left: In Season 10, Cristina packed her bags and moved to Switzerland to head up a hospital. Sandra Oh is busy with Killing Eve, but it would be so fun to see her come back for one episode to reconnect with her person, Meredith.
Patrick Dempsey (Derek Shepherd)
Grey’s fans still haven’t recovered from the loss of this one. Dempsey or “McDreamy” was Meredith’s love interest and later husband for 11 seasons until his tragic car accident death. Dempsey left the show to focus on his auto-racing career, but will return to TV in Epix miniseries The Truth About Harry Quebert Affair in 2018.
Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres)
After an ugly divorce from Arizona in Season 12, Callie headed across the country to take a job in New York with girlfriend Penny. While many fans are theorizing we could see a “Calzona” reunion with Arizona departing, as well, Ramirez is busy these days on the CBS political drama Madam Secretary.
For 13 years, we've followed the drama-filled lives of Seattle surgeons on Grey’s Anatomy. But while these docs are usually tasked with saving the lives of others, it’s often them who face grave danger (or even death).
Since the ABC hit kicked off in 2005, the cast has undergone and weathered many departures. And in the Season 14 finale, fans will say two more goodbyes as Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew) exit stage left.
So we wanted to check up on some of our favorite former cast members who previously left the series. Click through the gallery above to find out where your favorite former Grey’s docs are now!
