Katherine Heigl left Grey’s Anatomy back in 2010, and it sounds like she hasn’t kept up with the ABC medical drama since her departure. In a new interview with TV Line , the former Grey’s Anatomy star expressed surprise over the news that her character’s former love, Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), tied the knot with his longtime love Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) earlier this year.
“Oh my God!” Heigl said. “Well, that’s exciting. Alex needed to find love — true love.”
The former Grey’ s star did give Alex and Jo her blessing, but she couldn’t help but wonder what her dearly departed character, Izzie Stephens, would think of the newlyweds’ news. After all, Izzie and Alex married during Grey’s Anatomy ‘s landmark 100th episode, although things obviously didn’t work out for them.
“I don’t know [how Izzie would react. I’d have to start wondering where Izzie is. Like, what is she doing? Where did she go? I would hope that she pursued her [medical] career. She could have children by now. Heigl continues. “She could be married… If she has moved on, then I would expect Izzie to be very happy for him. She would want him to be happy.”
Still, Heigl admitted that Izzie would also probably be jealous of Jo and that she would have wanted Alex to hold out for her — wherever she is.
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This isn’t the first time Katherine Heigl mused about where her character would be. Two years after her exit from Grey’s Anatomy , the actress told E! Online she wanted to revisit the character.
“I’ve told them I want to return,” Heigl told E! “I really, really, really want to see where [Izzie] is. I just want to know what happened to her and where she went and what she’s doing now. My idea is that she actually figures it out, and finds some success and does really well in a different hospital.”
Unfortunately, Grey’s Anatomy fans will probably never know how Izzie will react to Alex’s happy news because Heigl is “done” on the show for good. In 2015, Grey ‘s showrunner Rhimes told TV Line she was officially “done” with Izzie’s story.
“I’ve turned that idea over in my mind a thousand times and thought about how it would go. And I don’t think so,” the Grey’s Anatomy creator said.
Heigl originally ruffled Rhimes’ feathers when she withdrew her name from Emmy Awards consideration in 2008. At the time, Heigl announced she hadn’t been provided the material “to warrant an Emmy nomination.” The actress abruptly left the show the less than two years later, asking to be released from her contract early so she could focus on her family.
In 2010, Rhimes told Entertainment Weekly she stopped short of killing off Heigl’s character because she was “open to seeing Izzie again” and she teased the possibility of wrapping up the character’s storyline at a later time. But five years later Heigl still hadn’t made a return to the show, and by then Izzie’s fate was a done deal.
Grey’s Anatomy returns to ABC this fall.