Meredith Grey has enjoyed her share of romance since first walking into the hospital in the 2005 Grey’s Anatomy series premiere “A Hard Day’s Night, and it probably didn’t occur to Ellen Pompeo at the time that she might have to answer questions about her character’s actions one day to her children. That day has already come with her oldest, 15-year-old Stella, and with 9-year-old Sienna right behind her, Pompeo is holding off on explaining at least one specific scenario as long as possible.
When Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 resumes on the 2025 TV schedule, we’ll likely see Meredith still loyally committed to Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman). That would be easy enough to explain to her middle child, but Ellen Pompeo said even though some of Sienna’s friends are starting to watch, it’s a bit too soon for the 9-year-old to see her own mom in some of those scenes. Pompeo told People:
I still think there's a lot of inappropriate stuff that 10-year-olds should not be seeing. So no judgment on other parents, but I just don't want to answer questions. I get some weird questions because I was in the scene. 'So, why are your panties on the bulletin board?' Really don't want to talk about that right now.
Ah yes, let us never forget the panties on the bulletin board. Meredith is past random hookups now, but her earlier-season relationships had a tendency to get a bit spicy. Derek Shepherd, let’s not forget, was still married when he first slept with Meredith, and in Season 2’s “Losing My Religion” — one of Grey’s Anatomy’s best episodes — they snuck away from their prom dates (aka McDreamy’s wife Addison), and a heated argument turned into a passionate hookup.
Addison would go on to find Meredith’s panties from said hookup in her husband’s clothes and chose to brutally pin them to the hospital’s bulletin board to shame the clandestine couple.
That’s a pretty intense situation to have to explain to your pre-teen child, so I understand Ellen Pompeo’s hesitancy to let Sienna start that Netflix binge. That’s far from the only scene she has to worry about, too.
Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl got real about some of the most embarrassing Grey’s Anatomy scenes to watch with their kids, and one that stuck out was Heigl’s character Izzie Stevens having oral sex with the ghost of her dead fiancé, Denny Duquette. Pompeo also said that one of the most iconic “Shondalogues” — Meredith’s “pick me, choose me, love me” speech — had her older daughter Stella asking why she was begging a man to be with her.
It’s actually pretty funny to think about Ellen Pompeo having to explain Meredith’s behavior to her children, and it kind of makes me want to relive those epic early seasons myself. If you want to start your own rewatch, you can use this guide to rewatch from your favorite Grey’s Anatomy era. The first 20 seasons can be streamed with a Netflix subscription, while a Hulu subscription will get you every episode through the Season 21 winter finale.
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