Ellen Pompeo Revealed Her Husband’s Real Thoughts About Smaller 'Grey's Anatomy' Role

Photo credit: Donato Sardella - Getty Images
Photo credit: Donato Sardella - Getty Images
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Although Grey's Anatomy fans were saddened to hear that Ellen Pompeo would be stepping back and taking a reduced role in the new season of the ABC medical drama, there is someone who is looking forward to the change — her husband, Chris Ivery.

With the season 19 premiere of the revered Shonda Rhimes show airing Thursday night, folks can't help but talk about how different it will look without Meredith Grey front and center. The 52-year-old actress, who has starred on the show since 2005, admitted that her longtime partner might have had something to do with her big decision.

"He did say the other day, he said, 'Don't you think you could work a little less now?'" Ellen recalled in an interview with Daily Pop! last October. “'You know we haven’t watched any shows and you need to work less.' So he did actually just say that to me.”

Photo credit: Allen Berezovsky - Getty Images
Photo credit: Allen Berezovsky - Getty Images

The couple, who met back in 2003 before Grey's hit primetime TV, had to deal with her fast rise to fame once the drama got popular. Ellen said her husband initially had difficulty with her character's relationship with her on-screen husband, Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey.

“I remember in the beginning it was really hard for him,” she said on the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast. Still, she knew that it wouldn't shake him too much. “My husband is a fantastic guy, and very, very secure,” Ellen told Queen Latifah in 2013. “I think that’s probably why I’m so into him — because he’s got so much swag."

As fans know, the couple is nearing their 15th wedding anniversary this fall (on November 9) and they'll be celebrating alongside their children — Stella, 13, Sienna, 8, and Eli, 5. But as for the next chapter of Grey's Anatomy, that's still up in the air.

After 18 seasons, we're not quite sure what to expect, especially since it seems we've seen almost every kind of scenario in the 400+ episodes that have aired. Regardless, we can't wait to see Ellen pop up on our screens and hope she enjoys downtime with her family when she doesn't.

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