'Grey's Anatomy' Season 17 confirmed: Will Katherine Heigl return to the show?

Amidst the excitement of Grey's Anatomy returning for season 17 on March 4, 2021, fans have also been wondering if Katherine Heigl, who previously played Izzie Stevens in the show, will be returning. Since fellow actors Patrick Dempsey (Derek Shepherd) and T.R. Knight (George O'Malley) are said to be reprising their roles for the upcoming season, more and more fans are being hopeful for the same reaction from Heigl. When being asked about the same, this is what the actor had to say.

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Will Katherine Heigl return to Grey's Anatomy? What happened to Izzie Stevens in the show?

When Katherine announced her departure from the show back in 2010, fans were devastated to see her character parting the screen. In Grey's Anatomy Season 5, Izzie was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. As we all know, Izzie and Alex were romantically involved at that time and in an emotional moment, had decided to freeze embryos together for the future. In season 6, Izzie was shown to have lost her job amid the Seattle Grace and Mercy West merger and in a couple's fallout, she was shown to have left Alex. The stark shift in her behaviour was enough to spark rumours of the actress leaving the show as fans wept in concern.

Nevertheless, Izzie came back in the 12th episode of season 6, where she revealed that she was cancer-free and asked Alex to come back in her life. But by that time, Alex had made up his mind about her and decided to settle for a divorce. Soon after, Izzie was shown to have left Seattle forever.

Behind the scenes, though, a very different drama had stirred up. The actress decided to leave the show after expressing that her desires have changed now that she has a family. Her relations with creator Shonda Rhimes was especially on an edge because of this. To top it all, after having received an Emmy nomination, Katherine decided that it was a good idea to withdraw her name as she felt that the material given to her that season was not enough to bag the prestigious award. This engraved a deeper scare in the relationship of her and the creators, although she had apologized to them personally right after giving the statement.

Today, a decade has passed since the incident and fans are being hopeful again for her return. In Season 16 that premiered last year, it was revealed to fans that Alex Karev and Izzie Stevens had reunited after he discovered that Izzie used the embryos they froze to give birth to twins. Post which, he leaves his wife and Seattle to start a new life in Kansas with Izzie. A year later, Katherine gave her two cents about this bizarre decision of the creators. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight on January 27, she said, "Wasn't he with someone? Listen, isn't that an a--hole move?"

Although seemingly disappointed with her on-screen husband's decision on the show, her reply seemed rather affirmative when asked if she would want to return in the future seasons. "I'm super focused on this show and my passion for it. I would never say never but it's not likely." Nevertheless, one can still dream.

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