Ellen Pompeo sent pulses racing among Grey’s Anatomy fans with a simple GIF, ahead of a second major surprise reveal on the show. Is you-know-who coming back?
Last week, Grey’s Anatomy‘s season 17 premiere featured the return of original cast member Patrick Dempsey as the late Derek Shepherd, who reunited with her character, Meredith Grey, in a dream sequence. As if that weren’t shocking enough for fans, a new promo has promised that ”another person from her past returns” for a Dec. 3 episode.
On Thursday, Nov. 19, the veteran female star fueled rumors that the mystery person is Katherine Heigl, who left the show in 2010 after playing Izzie Stevens for the first six seasons. Pompeo tweeted, “Hey it’s Grey’s day!!!” alongside a GIF showing her and Heigl’s characters together in a season three episode.
Naturally, fans freaked out, speculating, as one person tweeted, “IZZIE COMING BACK??”
“Hey… could you hint us who’s next on the beach?” another person tweeted, to which Pompeo responded, “Ummmmmm…No.”
Another user wrote, “IS IT GEORGE…we gotta wait 2 mf weeks??? I can’t.” Pompeo replied, “That @ABCNetwork promo department are messing with y’all in a major way no? @GreysABC”
The actress added, “If you really think about it… there’s a lot of people it could be.”