Fans should not plan on seeing Dr. Meredith Grey scrubbing in as much each week anymore! Why is that? Ellen Pompeo reportedly will be scaling back on her appearances in the upcoming season of Grey’s Anatomy – like by a lot!

According to TVLine, the 52-year-old actress will star in a “limited capacity” and appear in just eight episodes in season 19 of the ABC medical drama. A typical season of Grey’s ranges between 20 and 24 episodes – so everyone will only be seeing her around for roughly a third of the season! Wow! However, her presence still will be felt in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, even if she is not on the screen. As the outlet reported, Ellen will continue to executive produce and narrate every episode of the new season.

Related: Grey’s Anatomy Writer Who Wrote Episodes Based On Her IRL Health Issues Made It All Up?!

But what will she be doing instead of a large portion of the new Grey’s Anatomy season? Reducing her on-camera duties on the longtime series allows Ellen to focus on a new project, starring in and working as an EP on the upcoming Hulu series, being referred to as the “Untitled Orphan Project.” It is basically about the true story of the Midwestern couple who adopted what they thought was an 8-year-old girl with a rare form of dwarfism but soon realizes she may not be who she says she is. So Ellen has an exciting new project ahead – beyond Grey’s.

The news of Ellen’s limited appearances on the show has drawn some mixed reactions from viewers, many of whom took to Twitter to react:

“Ellen Pompeo really renewed her contract for yet another season of greys anatomy even tho she’s barely going to be in it Ellen just end your dumb show already smh.”

“ELLEN POMPEO FINALLY LEAVING GREYS AND ACTING ON SOMETHING ELSE TODAY IS A GOOD DAY.”

“Ellen pompeo starring in another show for the first time after 20 years. iconic if you ask me.”

“Well that doesn’t really bode well for the future. They should have stopped long ago if you ask me.”

“Whether you like Meredith Grey (or Ellen Pompeo for that matter) or not, 8 episodes out of 22 is a HUGE change for Grey’s Anatomy. Colossal.”

“i love grey’s but WTH is this; “limited appearances” from ellen pompeo?!?? the show is called GREY’S anatomy not everyone else anatomy. i love that show with my whole being, but if that’s how the show gonna be now, then i’m sorry but it has reached its end”

While this news might be a disappointment to some fans, it should not come as a surprise! The Catch Me If You Can star has not been shy about vocalizing her desire for the show to be over. In December, Ellen actually confessed to Insider that she’d “been trying to focus on convincing everybody that [Grey’s] should end.” She added:

“I feel like I’m the super naive one who keeps saying, ‘But what’s the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?’ Everyone’s like, ‘Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.’”

However, she later told Entertainment Tonight in May that she and Shonda Rhimes has been trying to see how the show could last without her:

“Shonda [Rhimes] and I, I think — we’ll see, we’ll see. Trying to reinvent the show and continually trying to reinvent the show is the challenge at this point. Listen, the show speaks to a lot of people, and the young people love the show. It’s inspired so many generations of healthcare workers, so, I think for the young people, it’s a really good piece of content and we’re going to try to keep it going for the young people, not necessarily with me, but keep it going beyond me.”

So who knows! Everyone could still see a lot more of Grey’s Anatomy in the future – just possibly without Ellen soon! They certainly have a ton of new blood coming to the show, including Harry Shum Jr., Adelaide Kane, Alexis Floyd, Niko Terho, and Midori Francis, to cover her absence and breathe some new life into it! We’ll have to see!

Reactions, Perezcious readers? Are you bummed about the news? Will you still watch the new season? Do you think Grey’s should just end already? Drop all your thoughts in the comments (below).

[Image via ABC/YouTube]