The Real Reason Sandra Oh Won't Return To Grey's Anatomy

Plenty of actors have left “Grey’s Anatomy” over the years, so Sandra Oh is in good company. Fellow original interns T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, and Justin Chambers (who played Dr. George O’Malley, Dr. Isobel “Izzie” Stevens, and Dr. Alex Karev, respectively) have all exited the series — though Knight appeared in a cameo in Season 17 — and even Ellen Pompeo, who puts the “Grey” in “Grey’s Anatomy,” has officially left the show as a full time regular. (Pompeo is still an executive producer, provides the show’s signature voice-over, and has appeared in several Season 20 episodes as of this writing.)

At this point, the ABC series has cycled through multiple generations of new interns, and in its record-breaking 20th season, there’s a whole new gang of surgery-hungry residents breathing new life into “Grey’s Anatomy.” Dr. Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd), Dr. Benson “Blue” Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.), Dr. Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane), Dr. Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis), and Dr. Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) are carrying on Cristina and Meredith’s legacy perfectly, so “Grey’s Anatomy” is doing okay without Sandra Oh … but it would still be great to see Cristina Yang again.