Bethany Joy Lenz Joining ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ For Season 14 Story Arc

There’s some excellent news for One Tree Hill fans: Bethany Joy Lenz is returning to TV. The actress will join Grey’s Anatomy for a Season 14 story arc. So far the details of her casting remain under wraps (as with any Shonda Rhimes casting announcement), but fans of her and the medical drama can’t help but speculate about it.

The casting announcement comes off the back of the shock exit for one particular character in Thursday night’s episode. Abigail Spencer’s Megan Hunt expectedly left — with Meredith’s love interest Nathan Riggs in tow. Rhimes tweeted that Martin Henderson was definitely leaving the series, but now the focus has moved onto the new girl coming to the set.

According to E! Online, this isn’t the first time Lenz has worked with Rhimes. The actress was on the two-season Thursday night show The Catch. When the show changed direction, Lenz was recast and replaced by Sonya Walger.

Despite the actress focusing more on her music career, she has appeared in a number of popular TV shows. Most recently she has been in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., American Gothic, and Big Little Lies. None of her characters have been on a show as long as her One Tree Hill character Haley James Scott.

Lenz is not the first One Tree Hill actress to come onto the show, either. In Season 9, Grey’s Anatomy added Hilarie Burton for a small arc. Burton’s character, Dr. Lauren Boswell, was instantly hated by Calzona shippers, as she encouraged Arizona to cheat on wife Callie. When Callie learned of the truth, it was the beginning of the end for Calzona, and Arizona has never been the same since. Fans will hope that Lenz’s character won’t create the same drama.

There is the possibility that she is coming in to help kick-start the Grey’s Anatomy firefighter spinoff. The show is still to gain a title but will have Grey’s series regular Jason George join the cast. George plays Bailey’s husband, Ben, and it looks like he is already training for a career change. Lenz could be one of the recruiters to bring George into the series.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 continues on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]