Grey’s Anatomy Season 23 Premiere Introduces Pregnancy, Exit
Grey’s Anatomy started its 23rd season on a shocking note with a surprise pregnancy reveal — and a potential departure.
During the Thursday, October 15, episode of the hit ABC series, Simone (Alexis Floyd) was freaked out after she took a pregnancy test that ended up being positive. She is currently dating Wes (Trevor Jackson) but hooked up with Lucas (Niko Terho), leaving the paternity unclear for now.
Jo (Camilla Luddington), meanwhile, struggled at work and ultimately revealed to Link (Chris Carmack) that she quit. Link was shocked, but he was also keeping a secret of his own after hiding pills he found in his and Jo’s home.
Jo leaving the hospital leaves her future up in the air, but Grey’s Anatomy is known for its cast shakeups and plot twists.
Luddington, 42, previously told Us she has enjoyed trying to find loopholes for why Jo shouldn’t be on the chopping block — starting with her recently welcoming twins.
“I do play that game of like, ‘Listen, she almost died.’ I have those conversations too. I talked to our showrunner and I’ll ask her questions about the season. Sadly, they don’t give enough away for us,” she told Us in April. “We are left wondering. But you know, I get to pitch stories too, which is really fun with her. Listen, I don’t think that you can ever consider yourself safe when you work at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.”
Despite the looming doom from season to season, Luddington is grateful she gets to explore meaningful stories, including the challenges of motherhood.
“That is what our show does so well is it shows how messy motherhood can be,” she gushed. “She has four kids and we do a good job of showing that at times she’s just not OK. I know there’s a lot of Team Jo fans out there and I really appreciate that.”
Showrunner Meg Marinis, meanwhile, previously hinted that not every character will be safe as the show continues.
“But even in the last two seasons with what you saw this year, we had to reduce the cast a little bit [because of industry-wide budget cuts], and everybody has very passionate feelings about their favorite characters,” Marinis told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2025. “But if we can get the writers upset then we know we’re doing it right. It’s not as satisfying a story if people aren’t upset when someone leaves. It’s supposed to make people upset and sad, so I’m sure there’ll be some arguments. But I’ve been persuaded before to change my mind on things.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
