Trending 20th September 2021 by Amie Edmonds

Here’s The Real Reason Katherine Heigl Decided To Leave Grey’s Anatomy

She's setting the record straight on her Grey's exit.


If there’s one tv show that has had viewers hooked for YEARS, it’s Grey’s Anatomy. It first aired back in 2005 (if you can even believe that), and despite many characters having been killed off the show, it’s still going strong.

Katherine Heigl, who was introduced as Izzy in season one, is now setting the record straight – 10 years after her infamous exit. After Izzy left the show, fans were left speculating over the real reason why Katherine herself quit Grey’s.

Katherine gave her reason for leaving the show, as part of journalist Lynette Rice’s new book ‘How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy’.

As it stands, it seems the real reason behind Katherine’s exit was much less dramatic than it was speculated. In 2008, Heigl and her husband, Josh Kelley, adopted their daughter Nancy Leigh, which as you can imagine, changed Katherine’s perspective on things.

 

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“I went on family leave…and just got to be a mom, and it changed my whole perspective…that was really the turning point,” she shared in an early excerpt from the book, according to E! Online.

“So before I was due back, I spoke again to Shonda about wanting to leave. Then I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumours that I refused to return were totally untrue.

“[Shonda] wanted to try to figure out how I could do both [parenting and Grey’s], and I kind of wanted to do both. There wasn’t a great way to compromise the work schedule that didn’t negatively affect the crew or the cast. It wasn’t feeling fair to them or the show to ask them to bend around my needs.”


Continuing, Katherine revealed she does have one regret about that chapter in her life. “The ‘ungrateful’ thing bothers me the most. And that is my fault,” she said, in relation to the backlash she faced after she removed herself from being nominated for an Emmy for the show in 2008.

“I allowed myself to be perceived that way. So much about living life, to me, is about humility and gratitude. And I’ve tried very hard to have those qualities and be that person, and I’m just so disappointed in myself that I allowed it to slip. Of course, I’m grateful. How can I not be?”

At the time, Katherine explained her decision to remove herself from the running, saying, “I do not feel I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination.”

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