"Grey's Anatomy" shocked its fans when show creator Shonda Rhimes decided to kill off one of the show's main and most important characters. 'MerDer' are no longer a couple because Dr. Derek Shepherd, more famously known as McDreamy, left the show in a manner that George R.R. Martin would have loved.
Derek will no longer be performing surgeries at the Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital and the actor who portrays him, Patrick Dempsey, has finally spoken up to share how he feels about leaving the show.
"It just, sort of, evolved," he told Entertainment Weekly. "It just kind of happened. It really was something that was, kind of, surprising that unfolded. It just naturally came to be - which was pretty good. I like the way it has all played out."
"Things happened very quickly where we were, like, 'Oh, this is where it is going to go,'" Dempsey added. "I am still processing it. This is part of the mourning process - the post-Grey's experience. It was like any other day - just another work day. There was still too much going on. You are in the midst of it - not really processing it."
According to the rumor mill, the divorce that he is presently going through with his estranged wife pushed the 49-year-old actor to leave the show despite being part of it for 10 long years. However, he slammed those rumors, saying that he left his "personal life at the door." "You are a professional," he said, according to a separate Entertainment Weekly report. "I am not going to talk about my home life as part of show."
With regard his on-screen wife, Ellen Pompeo, he called their bond "magic." "It is beautiful," he said. "We were like a married couple. It has been 10 years and it was magic from the beginning - chemistry right away." Since the ABC show first hit the small screens in 2005, Dempsey has been able to meet a lot of amazingly good friends along the way, according to Us Weekly.
Dempsey is not the first original cast member who decided to leave the highly watched series. The list of names includes Katherine Heigl, TR Knight, Isaiah Washington, and Sandra Oh, as pointed out out by Cinema Blend.
"I think, any time an original cast member has left, there was always a void that will never be filled," Dempsey added. "Shepherd is a beloved character. People do not want to lose him. He has been in their lives for over 10 years. But, it goes on. And it will evolve."
