#Katherine Heigl Reveals The REAL Reason Behind Her Exit From Grey’s Anatomy

As fans know, the 42-year-old actress played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the beloved medical drama for five years before suddenly departing from the series after six seasons in 2010. During that time, rumors were spreading of feuds with other co-stars and show creator Shonda Rhimes, and stories that Heigl was “difficult to work with” on set ran rampant. It only became worse after Katherine refused to submit her name for an Emmy consideration, claiming she was not “given the material to warrant a nomination.” All of this led many viewers to speculate whether the Knocked Up leading lady’s behavior was the true reason for her departure.

Related: Patrick Dempsey Got Fired From Grey’s Anatomy For ‘Terrorizing The Set’ & Giving The Cast ‘PTSD’?!

Now, more than 10 years later, Heigl has finally revealed the real reason she left the show and cleared up the rumors. In an excerpt from Lynette Rice’s How To Save A Life: The Inside Story Of Grey’s Anatomy, published by Daily Telegraph on Friday, she apparently admitted that she primarily left the show to focus on being a first-time mother:

“I started a family, and it changed everything. It changed my desire to work full-time. I went on family leave and just got to be a [mom], and it changed my whole perspective… that was really the turning point. So before I was due back, I spoke again to Shonda about wanting to leave. Then I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumors that I refused to return were totally untrue.”

According to Heigl, both she and Rhimes talked about juggling her personal and professional life but found it challenging to schedule around her needs. She reportedly explained:

“[Shonda] wanted to try to figure out how I could do both [parenting and ‘Grey’s], and I kind of wanted to do both. There wasn’t a great way to compromise the work schedule that didn’t negatively affect the crew or the cast. It wasn’t feeling fair to them or the show to ask them to bend around my needs.”

Understandable! The Firefly Lane star previously spoke to The Washington Post about feeling frustrated about having a reputation for being “difficult” in Hollywood simply for expressing her opinions. She told the publication:

“I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional.’ What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s**t pisses me off.”

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[Image via Patricia Schlein/WENN]