Cast departures rumors have been swirling around medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” during the past few months, but none of them proved to be true in the long run. However, this time it seems that Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight are leaving the ABC hit series for good.

 

Cast member James Pickens Jr., who impersonates chief of surgery Dr. Richard Webber at the story bound Seattle Grace Hospital, informed Us Weekly magazine that his two colleagues were on their way out of the popular show. James Pickens Jr. said that he wished 30-year-old Katherine Heigl “nothing but the best,” the magazine reported online on Tuesday. In addition, the cast member said that T.R. Knight wanted to leave “Grey’s Anatomy” in order to follow other “career paths.”

 

Us Weekly also cited a set source as saying that the 35-year-old actor who plays doctor George O’Malley in the hit drama “complains to Katherine all the time” and that “the energy on the set will be much better when he’s gone.” Nevertheless, the publication quoted a person as saying that the series’ writers intended to make up a “believable exit” for T.R. Knight’s character so as to permit the actor to make a potential comeback to the show at a later date.

 

The artist, who is openly gay, took part in an off-set controversy a couple of years ago, when back-then co-star Isaiah Washington allegedly insulted T.R. Knight for his sexual orientation. The actor who impersonated gifted cardiothoracic surgeon doctor Preston Burke was eventually dropped from the show.

 

Katherine Heigl plays good-looking and troubled doctor Izzie Stevens, who unintentionally contributed to the death of her fiancé, Denny Duquette, in an attempt to help him obtain a heart transplant. The character has been having hallucinations featuring Denny, thus indicating that Izzie may suffer from a mental problem caused by an unidentified health disorder.