Grey’s Anatomy star to return for new season after 17-year absence

Former star appeared in several early seasons of the medical drama

Grey’s Anatomy is once again paging Dr Sydney Heron 17 years after her last appearance on the long-running medical drama.

Played by Kali Rocha, Heron first appeared on the show’s second season in 2006 as a replacement for Dr Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) when she went on maternity leave.

Heron was given the responsibility of managing Bailey’s five surgical interns – Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), George O’Malley (TR Knight) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers).

During her time as the stand-in surgical resident, Heron often clashed with Cristina, who took issue with her bubbly personality.

Heron stuck around for a couple more seasons, serving as Izzie’s peer counselor after Denny’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) death in season three and even going on a date with Dr Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) in her final appearance in season four.

Now, more than a decade later, Heron will make her return to the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed.

Kali Rocha (far right) as Sydney Heron on ‘Grey’s Anatomy' (ABC)

It’s not yet known how her return will be written into the forthcoming season’s storyline, but the news comes shortly after reports broke that Midori Francis (Dr Mika Yasuda) and Jake Borelli (Dr Levi Schmidt) will both be leaving the show next season, due to rumored budget cuts.

Meanwhile, Jason George, who plays Bailey’s husband, Ben Warren, will rejoin as a series regular following the cancelation of Station 19, the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off in which he starred.

The Emmy-winning procedural drama first premiered in 2005. In 2019, it became the longest-running prime-time medical drama in the US with 332 episodes, a record previously held by ER.

In 2022, Pompeo made the shock decision to depart the show. “I am eternally grateful and humbled by the love and support you have all shown me, Meredith Grey and the show for 19 seasons!” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

Pompeo didn’t completely abandon the show, however, as she still returned for a handful of episodes in the show’s 20th season. She was reduced from a series regular to a recurring character. She also remains an executive producer on the series and continues to narrate the opening and closing voiceovers for each episode.

Grey’s Anatomy season 21 debuts on September 26 at 9pm ET on ABC, with new episodes airing weekly thereafter. Episodes will be available to stream on Hulu the next day.