Grey’s Anatomy has seen many beloved characters leave the show, and while the series is infamous for killing some of its biggest characters, not all those who have left have been killed. One of the most popular genres in TV is medical drama, and it has seen some of the most successful TV shows in history, and one that shows no signs of stopping soon is Grey’s Anatomy. Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005, and it has become so popular that it has been going for over 15 seasons, even if its quality has been in decline for years.
Like any other medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to balance their professional and personal lives, which more often than not overlap and create a lot of drama inside and outside the hospital. Grey’s Anatomy is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who started as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital (now Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital) alongside other characters who quickly became fan favorites. Meredith continues to lead the series now as Head of General Surgery, but none of those who started their careers by her side are still in the show, along with many others that left their mark in the series and the hearts of fans.
Although Grey’s Anatomy is a drama series, it has been heavily criticized for going on the “easy” route when writing characters off by deciding to kill them instead of giving their stories a proper ending. This has been the fate of many fan-favorite characters such as George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), but there are many others that left the show and are still alive. Here’s every main character in Grey’s Anatomy who left without dying and how they left the show.
Preston Burke – season 3
Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) was the Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Seattle Grace when viewers met him in Grey’s Anatomy season 1. Burke got involved with Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and got engaged, but he left her on their wedding day and quit immediately after, thus leaving the show in season 3. He returned in Grey’s Anatomy season 10 to help bring Cristina’s arc to an end: after leaving Seattle Grace, Burke founded the Klausman Institute for Medical Research in Zurich, Switzerland, where he also served as chief medical officer. He left this spot to Cristina so he could move to Milan, Italy, with his wife, and she took the offer. Behind the scenes, however, Washington’s departure happened as a consequence of a lot of drama on-set, most notably an argument with Patrick Dempsey in which he used a homophobic slur presumably directed to or in reference to T.R. Knight’s sexual preferences.
Addison Montgomery – season 3
Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) arrived at the end of Grey’s Anatomy season 1 and became head of neonatal surgery and obstetrics and gynecology. Addison is Derek’s ex-wife and had an affair with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), which complicated not only her marriage but also Derek and Mark’s friendship. Addison left Grey’s Anatomy in season 1 to move to Los Angeles, and viewers continued her story in the spinoff series Private Practice, which came to an end in 2013. Addison returned in Grey’s Anatomy season 18 for two episodes.
Erica Hahn – season 5
Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith) was introduced in Grey’s Anatomy season 2 and was a cardiothoracic surgeon and long-time rival of Preston Burke. Hahn was especially hard on Cristina and got romantically involved with Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), but as the latter was still figuring her sexuality out, their relationship didn’t last long. Hahn left abruptly in Grey’s Anatomy season 5 when she didn’t agree with Callie on what to do with Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), who stole a heart from one of Hahn’s patients for Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), so Hahn quit, got into her car, and left. The decision to write Erica Hahn out was ABC’s, who were not comfortable with where the Hahn/Callie relationship was going, with some studio execs reportedly not liking the character in general.
Izzie Stevens – season 6
Izzie Stevens was one of the characters whose journey began alongside Meredith’s as an intern at Seattle Grace, and her story was full of ups and downs. In Grey’s Anatomy season 5, Izzie was diagnosed with cancer, but she got better after a complicated treatment and surgery to remove a brain tumor. Izzie returned to work, but she was fired after giving the wrong dosage of medicine to a patient. After that, Izzie’s appearances became sporadic, and she finally left Seattle to start a new life, and later sent divorce papers to Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). Izzie’s fate was addressed when Alex’s arc came to an end, as it was revealed that she's now a surgical oncologist in Kansas and lives with her twin children, who are also Alex’s children (thanks to the frozen embryos from before her cancer treatment). Heigl’s departure was the result of a lot of behind-the-scenes drama that began (at least publicly) when she declined to put her name forward for consideration at the Emmy Awards, saying she hadn’t been given enough material to warrant a nomination.
Cristina Yang – season 10
One of the most important departures in Grey’s Anatomy was that of Cristina Yang, Meredith’s best friend and “person”. Cristina was one of the interns whose journey in Grey’s Anatomy began alongside that of Meredith, and she was fiercely competitive and focused, and even though she was a skilled and knowledgable doctor, she struggled to convey her emotions. Cristina was involved in complicated relationships with Burke and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), but she never lost focus on her career. Cristina left Grey’s Anatomy in season 10 when Burke offered her a job as the head of the hospital he founded in Switzerland, and she took the offer.
Callie Torres – season 12
Callie Torres was the head of Orthopedic Surgery, and throughout her time in Grey’s Anatomy, she was involved in a lot of drama in her personal life. Callie was married to George O’Malley but divorced after he cheated on her, she was in an on-again-off-again relationship with Mark Sloan (which resulted in the birth of their daughter, Sofia), got involved with Erica Hahn, and married Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), who she later divorced – but that wasn’t the end of their relationship. After a custody battle with Arizona (as Mark died as a consequence of the plane crash), Callie was offered an agreement so she could move to New York with Sofia, and she left Grey’s Anatomy in season 12.
April Kepner – season 14
April Kepner (Sarah Drew) joined Seattle Grace Mercy West after the merge of Seattle Grace and Mercy West Medical Center, and at the core of her arc were her religious beliefs, which got in the way of her career and personal relationships. April married Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and they had two children, but sadly, their first baby passed away, and they divorced before their second child was born. In season 14, she almost died of hypothermia after a car accident. She later married Matt Taylor (Justin Bruening) and left the hospital to help homeless communities in Seattle. April returned in Grey’s Anatomy season 17, where she agreed to move to Boston with Jackson to run the Harper Avery Foundation.
Arizona Robbins – season 14
Arizona Robbins was the head of Pediatric Surgery and one of the “Seattle Grace Five”. Arizona was one of the survivors of the plane crash, though her leg had to be amputated. This caused her relationship with Callie to deteriorate as she blamed her for the amputation, and their marriage eventually ended. Arizona left Grey’s Anatomy in season 14 after her daughter, Sofia, moved back to Seattle, but she was deeply unhappy and missed Callie, so Arizona decided to move to New York so Sofia could be close to both her and Callie, though whether she and Callie reconciled or not remains unknown.
Alex Karev – season 16
One of the most controversial departures in Grey’s Anatomy was that of Alex Karev. Alex began his journey in the series as an intern alongside Meredith, Izzie, Cristina, and more, and he’s one of the few characters who went through much-needed character development, which is why his departure was so criticized. Alex left in Grey’s Anatomy season 16, but it all began with him going to Iowa to help his mom, but it was later revealed by his mother that he hadn’t been there. Alex told his wife, Jo, that he was “going through something” and stopped answering her calls. Some episodes later, it was revealed what was going on with Alex, but he didn’t return to close his arc, and it was instead done through letters with a voiceover by him. Alex explained that he reconnected with Izzie and learned about the twins, so he made the decision of moving in with her so his kids wouldn’t grow up in a broken home without a father (as happened to him), and admitted that he had always loved Izzie.
Jackson Avery – season 17
Jackson Avery was one of the staff members who joined the hospital as a result of the merger and went on to become head of Plastic Surgery. Jackson is the grandson of Harper Avery, one of the most famous surgeons in the country and the namesake of the Harper Avery Award, so Jackson spent most of his time in the series trying to achieve success on his own. Jackson left Grey’s Anatomy in season 17 when after facing severe racial inequity in medicine, decided to make a change through the Foundation, so he took over it from his mother and moved to Boston, but not before convincing April to move in with him so he could be close to their daughter.