Grey’s Anatomy fans, we’ve got some good news for you. After months of speculation following Ellen Pompeo’s departure, we now have confirmation that the show has been renewed for season 20.

While Pompeo wasn’t the only departure the show has seen this season – the showrunner Krista Vernoff confirmed she would be stepping down after the current season back in January, and Kelly McCreary, who plays Maggie Pierce, announced she would be hanging up her scrubs earlier this month – it seems we haven’t seen the last of the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial.

Of course, what season 20 will look like is still up for debate. The current season may have seen Pompeo’s character Meredith leave Seattle for a new job in Boston, but it’s been confirmed that she will still provide the voiceover at the beginning and end of each episode, as well as appearing in-person in season 19’s two-hour finale, which will air in May. However, Pompeo’s involvement in season 20 is still very much up in the air. 

What we do know, however, is that Vernoff’s showrunner role will be filled by season 15’s executive producer Meg Marinis, who has been involved with the show since season 3. Back then, she started as a writer’s production assistant – and she’s penned over 25 episodes since, including the iconic 350th episode which saw Meredith face the medical board in a bid to keep her licence.

For now, then, we’ll just have to wait and see whether Pompeo will be involved in season 20 in any way – and if not, which character will replace Meredith’s guiding voiceover.

Since confirming her departure back in November last year, Pompeo has revealed exactly why she’s decided to step back from her iconic role after 19 years on screen.  

Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, she explained: “I feel super happy. But listen, the show has been incredible to me and I’ve loved a lot of the experience, it’s just I gotta mix it up a little bit. I’m 53, my brain is like scrambled eggs – I gotta do something new or I’m literally gonna turn into, like… you can’t do the New York Times crossword puzzle every single day.” 

She continued: “I mean, 19 years – that’s more than people keep their kids in their house, like people keep their kids in their house until they’re 18 and then they send them off to college, so this is like me like going away to college.”

If one thing’s for sure, Pompeo’s absence is going to leave a big hole in Grey’s Anatomy season 20 – but we can’t wait to see what new storylines the show’s creative team come up with.

Grey’s Anatomy is available to stream on Disney+ 

Images: Disney+