Richard Flood, Anthony Hill and Stefania Spampinato have something to celebrate heading into the new seasons.
Grey's Anatomy is doing some cast shuffling ahead of their new seasons, promoting three actors to series regular -- one of whom will be moving permanently to the firefighter spinoff Station 19, ET has confirmed.
Richard Flood, who joined Grey's last season as Dr. Cormac Hayes -- set up as a potential love interest for Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) -- has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming 17th season. When the shortened 16th season ended, Meredith was struggling to figure out how best to navigate a possible reconciliation with her ex, Dr. Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), while balancing a mutual attraction toward Flood's Cristina Yang-approved "McWidow."
Anthony Hill, who guest starred in a season 16 episode as Dr. Winston Ndugu, a former colleague of Maggie's (Kelly McCreary), has also been upped to series regular on Grey's. In his lone episode, Hill's character and Maggie reignited romantic sparks during a medical convention, leaving much more to be explored between the characters in season 17.
In an unexpected move, Grey's star Stefania Spampinato, who joined in season 14 as Andrew's sister, Dr. Carina DeLuca, will be move over to Station 19 as a new series regular for season 4. The switcheroo comes after Carina struck up a romance with Maya Bishop (Danielle Savre), appearing in 10 episodes last season versus only six on Grey's' most recent season.
“I am so excited to add Anthony Hill, Stefania Spampinato and Richard Flood to the Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy families," showrunner and executive producer Krista Vernoff said in a statement to ET. "They are huge talents who made a big impact with our fans, with our casts and with our writers who are eager to write more for them.”
Grey's was forced to cut season 16 short by four episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's unclear whether unfinished storylines could carry over to next year or be abandoned completely. Station 19 finished out its 16-episode run with a surprising reveal in the May 14 finale.
One thing that is apparent for the upcoming Grey's season will be the existence of a COVID-19 pandemic storyline. During a recent virtual conversation, Vernoff confirmed the plans, saying it only makes sense on a medical drama set in the present day.
"We’re going to address this pandemic for sure," Vernoff said during the "Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going" panel. "There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes."
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