NEWSKatherine Heigl Is Officially "Done" with 'Grey's Anatomy'
March 24 2010, Published 6:01 a.m. ET
"I am done,” declares Katherine Heigl, confirming her departure from Grey's Anatomy in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. The 31-year-old actress is leaving the hit ABC drama after five (almost six) full seasons at Seattle Grace Hospital as doctor Izzie Stevens.
“We just finalized our agreement," Katherine tells EW. "Everyone had been working really hard to find an amicable and gracious way of letting go and moving on. It’s sad but it’s what I wanted.”
Katherine admits it was personal family issues, not her film career that fueled her to back out of her Grey's contract 18 months early.
“I started a family and it changed everything for me,” Katherine says. "It changed my desire to work full-time.”
Katherine took a three-month family leave from donning her lab coat this season to bond with her newly adopted daughter, Naleigh, and husband Josh Kelly.
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She was scheduled to appear in this season’s final five episodes; however, that is not the case anymore. The Jan. 21 episode was her last as Izzie.
“I know I’m disappointing the fans,” she says. “I just had to make a choice. I hope I made the right one.”
