Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane has spoken out over why he was 'let go' from the beloved medical drama, admitting 'not everything is going to be a walk in the park'.
Last month, the 51-year-old actor - who played Dr Sloan on the show for six seasons from 2006 to 2012 - opened up about why he was written out of the beloved TV programme during the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard.
In the interview, Dane discussed 'struggling' with both drugs and alcohol addiction, though confirmed he was not 'fired' due to that directly but noted 'it definitely didn’t help'.
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He continued to theorise if he was let go due to being 'too expensive', adding: "I was starting to become - as most of these actors who have spent significant time on the show - you start to become very expensive for the network.
"And the network knows that the show is going to do what it’s going to do irrespective of who they keep on it - as long as they have their Grey they were fine."
Fans of Grey's Anatomy will remember that in the season eight finale, Dr Sloan - joined by co-stars Chyler Leigh (Lexie), Patrick Dempsey (Derek), Ellen Pompeo (Meredith), Sandra Oh (Cristina), and Jessica Capshaw (Arizona) - was involved in a major aviation incident while on the way to perform surgery on conjoined twins.
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While his on-screen love interest Lexie is killed by debris, Dr Sloan survives but is placed on life support due to the extensive injuries he sustained.
The ninth series subsequently sees him reappear in flashbacks, but his machine is turned off as per his own wishes after 30 days.
While praising his show's producer Shonda Rhimes for having his back despite the premature departure, Dane claimed: "I was probably fired.
"It wasn’t ceremoniously like, 'You’re fired', it was just like, 'You’re not coming back'."
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Since then, in an interview with Fox News Digital, Dane confirmed that he holds no bad feelings to the show for 'firing' him amidst his addiction issues.
"Sometimes you just hang on and understand that this too shall pass," said the actor who has most recently starred in his latest action-drama, One Fast Move. "I never expected life — no matter what your circumstances are — to be easy all the time."
He continued: "So I think understanding that not everything is going to be a walk in the park has certainly prepared me to put myself in the best position to weather some of the down times.
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"They come fast and furious, and a lot of the times all you can do is just hang on and know that it's going to pass.
"And I no longer use substances and alcohol and things of that nature to deal with any of that stuff, good or bad."
"It's not celebratory, and it's not something I pick up when … things aren't great. And the only way out is through," Dane added.
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, TV And Film, Celebrity
Rhiannon Ingle