Giacomo Gianniotti is spilling some heartbreaking news about Grey’s Anatomy, saying he believes the long-running ABC medical drama will come to an end in 2021 after season 17. “At the moment, we have one more season locked in and I feel pretty confident that that’s where it’ll end, I think, from the conversations that I’ve had with people,” Giacomo, 30, told Us Weekly. However, he also said that nothing is set in stone right now. “Then again, the studio and the creatives love the show and want it to go on forever.”
Even so, Giacomo, who plays Dr. Andrew DeLuca, said he’s unclear about “what’s going to happen” with the future of Grey’s Anatomy, but he did admit that “saying next year’s the last year is stupid.” Of course, one of the reasons why the show has stayed on the air for so long is because Ellen Pompeo, 50, who plays the series’ titular character Dr. Meredith Grey, has agreed to keep playing the role. “I don’t know where Ellen stands. I think she’s still having a good time,” he told the publication. “I think we all feel like it’s coming to a close. If the writers really feel like there’s more stories to tell, then who knows?”
The Italian-born actor explained how the show could keep going, while revealing that the potential ideas for future storylines are endless. “We have a formula that’s really clear. We are a show that does a lot of political commentary. We’ve got real issues and there’s no shortage of issues coming up that need to be talked about. So as far as the writers are concerned, they could write it forever because there’s not enough small people in the world who don’t have a big voice that need a megaphone. We provided that year in and year out,” he said.
In May 2019, ABC announced that the network had locked in Grey’s for seasons 16 and 17, with the show’s star Ellen agreeing to stay on as Meredith Grey. Earlier that year, she told our sister site TVLine, “I keep saying, ‘I’m ready to move on and I want to stop the show before the ratings go down, but the ratings never go down!” She added. “They go down a little bit, but the fact that we are able to hold our [title as ABC’s No. 1 series] is kind of [incredible]. It’s very cool to have these kind of ratings and be on a hit network show in this [Peak TV] landscape.”