‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Ellen Pompeo & Kate Walsh Honor Meredith & Addison’s 1st Face-Off 15 Years Later

It was ‘such a defining moment for [‘Grey’s Anatomy’]’, and now, 15 years later, Ellen Pompeo and Kate Walsh are paying tribute to their iconic first face-off.

Former Grey’s Anatomy stars and onscreen rivals Ellen Pompeo and Kate Walsh gave us major goosebumps on May 22, when they paid tribute to one of the long-running series’ most iconic moments on its 15th anniversary. Kate was actually the first one to acknowledge Meredith and Addison’s legendary first run-in, when she took to Twitter and noted that it’s been 15 years to the day since the Season 1 finale of Grey’s aired on May 22, 2005. And it was during that episode that Walsh’s Addison told Meredith (Pompeo) that her new boyfriend (Patrick Dempsey‘s Derek Shepherd)… is married to her.

“Unreal that today marks 15 years to the day since this little lady walked on to your screen and checked ya for screwing her husband,” Kate joked on Twitter. Quickly thereafter, Ellen chimed in with some major excitement. “Thank God I messed with your hubby!!,” she wrote, before adding, “It worked out for us both… that scene when your character showed up was such a defining moment for [Grey’s]. From that point on we had them hooked!!!”

After Kate made her iconic entrance on the series, viewers quickly fell in love with her. But she later left the series at the end of Season 3 to star in her own Addison-centric spinoff, Private Practice, which ran for six seasons and concluded in January 2013. Grey’s Anatomy, which first debuted in 2005, recently ended its 16th season on ABC, and it’s already been renewed for another with no end date in sight.