‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Kelly McCreary is quitting the show After Nine Seasons as Maggie Pierce

Both of Ellis Grey’s daughters will go from Grey Sloan Memorial this year. At the conclusion of Season 10, Kelly McCreary has portrayed Maggie Pierce, Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) half-sister and the director of the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department. She is leaving ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy after nine years. Her final episode as a regular on the series will broadcast on April 13. Maggie will visit the physicians of Grey Sloan later this season after her departure on April 13, just like Pompeo, who is scheduled to return for the Season 19 finale following Meredith’s dramatic send-off on February 23.

Grey’s Anatomy creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes, executive producer/showrunner Krista Vernoff, and ABC were thanked for the opportunity to be a part of the “legendary television institution” that is Grey’s Anatomy. “After nine seasons, I am saying goodbye to Maggie Pierce and her Grey Sloan family,” McCreary said. I depart with a deep sense of appreciation for every step of this journey, and playing Maggie Pierce has been one of the genuine joys of my life. I look forward to this new phase and what is ahead. 

Pierce’s Meredith Grey’s leave has also been meticulously arranged, much like it was with Pompeo’s Meredith Grey, who departed Seattle in the midseason premiere. Maggie’s Season 19 storyline was created as the character’s final chapter at Grey Sloan, preparing for her impending departure, according to what I’ve heard. She reportedly informed the producers in advance of her wish to leave and explore other options. Maggie and Winston’s (Anthony Hill) escalating marital issues have dominated that last plot thread.

Kelly McCreary is “a talented, nuanced, intelligent, and caring writer’s dream come true,” according to Vernoff. “She and her exquisitely created Dr. Maggie Pierce” will be sorely missed.

Noted for her perfectionism and determination to be in control, Maggie was debuted in the last episode of Season 10. In a shocking finale revelation, it was discovered that Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) and Meredith’s late mother, Ellis Grey, had a biological daughter named Maggie (Kate Burton).

In Season 11, McCreary made a comeback as a recurring character before being soon elevated to series regular. Since then, she has remained a core cast member, only taking a brief hiatus to give birth to her first child with director Pete Chatmon, whom she had met on the Grey’s Anatomy set, at the beginning of Season 18 in the autumn of 2021.

Maggie has experienced a lot of heartache over the years. She met a relative who subsequently passed away on her operating table, and she was with her mother as she lost her battle with cancer.

Before she met Winston, a resident at Tufts who accompanied her to Seattle, Maggie went through a number of romances, most notably with DeLuca and Jackson. During the Grey’s Anatomy-themed Season 17, they got married twice, once in Meredith’s backyard and once on the beach.

Maggie raised the topic of whether Winston and she did not get married too hastily without getting to know one another well in the Season 18 finale, which was the first indicator that things were not going well for the couple. In a passionate speech about their love for one another, he immediately dispelled her concerns.

Winston’s well-intended plan to quit cardiology and change specialisations in order to save their marriage, however, quickly led to a new divide. Since then, they have been at odds and are infamous for their fight in Meredith’s attic after a lightning strike that started a fire. Winston and Maggie’s relationship deteriorated when they pulled off a professional “miracle” by successfully executing a dangerous partial heart transplant operation on a newborn infant, a first of its type. As a result, Maggie moved in with Amelia and sought guidance from her father.

Maggie cried when she questioned Richard at the conclusion of last week’s episode how he and Catherine knew that what they were experiencing “was simply a tough patch and it wasn’t something more… malignant.” Even though Richard was comforting, the way his remarks blended with Meredith’s end-of-episode voiceover made the conversation unsettling. The episode finished with Richard remarking, “Whatever’s happening on, you and Winston have so much love between you that whatever it is, you work through it, I know you will,” followed by Meredith’s comment, “Sometimes, despite our learning and centuries of medical development, the sickness prevails.”