Ellen Pompeo Explains the Real Reason Why She Left 'Grey's Anatomy'

etonline.com:

Ellen Pompeo opened up about the real reason she choose to leave  On Thursday,  fans said goodbye to the end of an era as longtime star Pompeo and her beloved character, Meredith Grey, bid farewell in her last episode as a series regular in the emotional winter premiere.Though Thursday's episode marks Pompeo's final appearance as a regular, this won't be the last time viewers will see the character.

The 53-year-old actress is expected to appear at least one more time before the current 19th season is over. She will continue to narrate the rest of the season and fulfill her duties as an executive producer, and the door remains open for her character to drop by in the future.

The actress previously appeared on a December episode of where she directly addressed her decision to depart the ABC medical drama after 19 seasons. «I feel super happy, but listen, the show has been incredible to me and I’ve loved a lot of the experience,» Pompeo told Drew Barrymore during their sit-down interview. «Listen, it’s just, I gotta mix it up a little bit.»«I’m 53.

My brain is like scrambled eggs,» the actress explained. «I gotta do something new or I’m literally gonna turn into like, you can’t do the crossword puzzle every single day.