INF Photo, ABC

Shonda gave us the dirt on Katherine’s character Izzie!

Katherine Heigl‘s character Izzie Stevens has been MIA from Seattle Grace Hospital since Jan. 21, and we know you’re dying to know whether or not she has plans to scrub back in. So that’s exactly what we asked Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes at the NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 26 in Los Angeles — and she told us exactly what we wanted to hear!

“[Izzie] is written into an episode,” she confirmed to HollywoodLife.com on the red carpet.

And even though she wouldn’t give us any specifics on Izzie’s return, she did dish about newcomer Jesse Williams. “He’s definitely working for the show, and he’s pretty great to look at,” she said (and we agree!) “I think it was nice for the audience to have some sort of villains [the doctors from Mercy West] that would compete with our Seattle Grace characters. … You learn more about [Jesse’s] character in the next episode.”

She also nixed a potential future for Christina (Sandra Oh) and Jesse’s character, Jackson. “We dont think anything more will happen with Christina and Jackson,” she said. “She has her own story line that is developing and shaping. We’ve written an episode that.”

Wow… a surprise return from Izzie and new storylines for Christina and Jackson? Sounds like things are heating up at Seattle Grace!