Someone is leaving Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in season 21.
A beloved Grey’s Anatomy cast member is leaving the long-running medical drama, Deadline has reported.
Jake Borelli, who plays surgical resident Levi Schmitt in the show, has been a series regular for the past five seasons.
Season 21 is set to mark his last appearance in Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, with Deadline reporting the actor is currently in negotiations to wrap up his storyline.
Borelli’s exit is believed to be due to budget cuts at ABC.
Borelli’s time on the show has seen him cover groundbreaking territory since joining in season 14, including being part of the first kiss between two male actors on the series.
His character, Levi, was in a relationship with Grey’s first openly gay male character, Nico Kim (Alex Landi).
Though the pair have since broken up, their romance marked the first such storyline between two male characters on the series (the show had previously featured a lesbian romance between Sara Ramirez’s Callie Torres and Jessica Capshaw’s Arizona Robbins).
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As well as making LGBTQIA history on the show, Borelli’s character has been at the centre of some of Grey’s major storylines in recent years.
His character was the only one from his class of interns who remained at the hospital following the disbandment of the residency programme. He also suffered from declining mental health after losing a patient.
It’s unclear at this stage how his exit will be approached, and whether the door will be left open for a possible return in the future.
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