Kevin McKidd discusses Grey's Anatomy exit, teases next ITV thriller role

Kevin McKidd’s departure is more than a cast change. It is another test of how Grey’s Anatomy keeps its identity intact while rotating out the actors who helped define it, and McKidd has been one of the clearest examples of that durability, playing Dr. Owen Hunt for 18 seasons while also directing more than 40 episodes.

McKidd joined ABC News’ Diane Macedo on Good Morning America to talk about what comes next after leaving the long-running series. His run on Grey’s Anatomy began in Season 5 in 2008, giving him one of the show’s longest tenures and making his exit especially notable for a drama that has outlasted most of network television’s usual shelf life. For a series built on turnover, McKidd became part of the stable infrastructure: an on-screen lead, a behind-the-camera presence, and one of the faces audiences associated with the show’s later-era endurance.

ABC and entertainment outlets first reported on March 25, 2026, that McKidd and Kim Raver would leave Grey’s Anatomy at the end of Season 22. Their final episode was scheduled to air as the season finale on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, with streaming available the next day on Hulu. That timing gives the departure extra weight because the penultimate episode ended on a cliffhanger involving Owen Hunt’s fate, pushing the finale into the role of both sendoff and plot reset.

The series has leaned on that kind of controlled turnover for years, turning exits into part of the storytelling engine instead of a threat to the brand. Showrunner Meg Marinis has said the story was coming to a close, while Shonda Rhimes teased a “happy ending” for Owen and Teddy, signaling that the exit was being framed not as a collapse of the ensemble but as another chapter in a show that has repeatedly rebuilt itself around changing relationships and new conflicts.

McKidd already has a next act lined up. His reported lead role in the upcoming ITV drama thriller The Only Suspect points him toward a different lane, while Grey’s Anatomy heads into yet another transition. For a series now deep into its third decade on television, that ability to absorb departures without losing audience loyalty remains one of its defining business advantages.