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Ellen Pompeo Signs New ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Deal, Says There Will Be No More McDreamy [Spoilers]

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 02:26 PST, Jun 4, 2016

Ellen Pompeo has signed a new deal with Grey’s Anatomy, according to Entertainment Weekly. The 46-year-old actress has renewed her deal with the ABC show to keep her character at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for at least another season.

Even though there are little details about the deal, it’s believed that the deal has made Ellen Pompeo one of the highest paid actress on TV. Last year, the Grey’s Anatomy actress was the fourth-highest earning TV actress, according to Forbes‘ estimations, $17 million short of Sofia Vergara and Kaley Cuoco, who held the first spot with $28.5 million. Julie Bowen was No. 3 with $12 million.

The ABC show ended its Season 12 just two weeks ago, and the drama is already considered to be the network’s biggest success in its history. In fact, the show saw a 6 percent increase in ratings after Dr. Derek Shepherd (played by Patrick Dempsey), Ellen Pompeo’s character’s husband, was killed off last season.

Ellen Pompeo wasn’t the only Grey’s Anatomy star who signed a new deal with the network. Such stars of the ABC show as Chandra Wilson, Justin Chambers, Kevin McKidd, and James Pickens Jr. are reportedly still negotiating their deals. Meanwhile, Sara Ramirez, who played Dr. Callie Torres on the show, announced she was quitting the ABC drama.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 Episode 1 will air in September this year.

ABC has always been great at making the personal lives of its characters the main focus of the shows airing on the network. And Grey’s Anatomy is no different, as the show made viewers of the ABC show root for its couples, according to Cinema Blend. And the most popular relationship of the show has been the one between Ellen Pompeo’s and Patrick Dempsey’s characters.

But when Dempsey’s character, McDreamy aka Derek Shepherd, was killed off last season, fans of the show started wondering whether there was any hope for Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, to find a new love interest.

And fans of Grey’s Anatomy got to see Ellen Pompeo’s character trying herself at dating after the death of McDreamy, and it got fans wondering who will be the show’s next McDreamy. But in her recent interview with TV Line, Pompeo said there will be no McDreamy “ever.”

“You know, he’s not replaceable.”

So it’s good news for the fans of the McDreamy and Grey chemistry that they have witnessed on the show. But at the same time, it means fans of the show will never get to see Ellen Pompeo’s character loving anyone even nearly as much as she loved Derek.

But why did Grey’s Anatomy fans suspect Derek Shepherd could be replaced in the first place? It all started early on the last season of the show, when Ellen Pompeo’s character, having mourned the death of her husband for a few years, finally got back into the dating game.

And both of her potential love interests this season were both doctors and dreamy, which led the show’s fans to think that McDreamy could be replaced to start that romantic chemistry with Ellen Pompeo’s character anew.

First, Ellen Pompeo’s character showed slight signs of affection for Major Will Thorpe. The two met when Grey helped carry out a surgery in an army hospital. But their “affection” lasted for only a few dates, as when she woke up with Thorpe in her bed, she kicked him out of her house and never saw him again.

And then Ellen Pompeo’s character tried a no-strings-attached sexual relationship with Nathan Riggs. And it seems like exactly what Grey needs right now.

[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]

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