Greyโs Anatomy fans will remember April 23, 2015, as a day their lives changed forever. Though it wasnโt apocalyptic, many were devastated by the sudden death of Dr. McDreamy, played by Hollywood cutie Patrick Dempsey.
In the 1987 romantic comedy,ย Canโt Buy Me Love, Dempsey played the nerdy teenager Ronald Miller, who had to pay for pretending a girlfriend. Years later, the star re-emerged in the medical drama, Greyโs Anatomy as the dreamy doctor whose death caused a meltdown with his die-hard followers.
Though Dempsey hinted in 2013 that he might be leaving the show,ย Entertainment Weeklyย reported in 2014 that he and co-star Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith, signed a new two-year contract, which gave the good doctor at least until 2016.
Little was known about Dempseyโs departure from the hit series and even those of us who had never seen the show, were left wondering โwhy?โ
According to reports, Dempsey, the father of three, hit his breaking point and started acting out on the set of the show.
In an interview for the book,ย How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Greyโs Anatomyย (2021), Dempsey confessed to resenting theย Greyโsย schedule. โItโs 10 months, 15 hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, โWhat are you doing on Monday?โ And you go, โI donโt know,โ because I donโt know my schedule,โ Dempsey said. โDoing that for 11 years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because youโre well compensated, so you canโt really complain because you donโt really have a right.โ
And, what happened early 2015 might explain his on-set behavior.
On January 23, 2015,ย Radar Onlineย delivered some breaking news with a story that said, โMcDreamy is about to be on the market!โ
Dempsey, also a professional race car driver, was at a 24-hour race event in Daytona Beach, Florida, when Jillian Fink, his wife of 15 years at the time, filed for divorce.
To make things right, Dempsey left his role as Dr. McDreamy and focussed on his role as a husband and father. He toldย Peopleย that the potential end of his marriage was โscary.โ
โOur marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of. I didnโt feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. Thatโs where it started.โ He continued, โItโs always destabilizing when youโre potentially breaking up a family or you have a big section of your life thatโs ending.โ
Like the scripts to the romcoms he stars, his love story with Jillian has a storyline filled with laughter, sadness, hope and of course a lot of love.
In 1994, when Dempsey was 28, he walked into the Delux salon and met his stylist Jillian Fink, who was also the owner.
A 2002 story published inย People, recounts their meeting.
Dempsey called the salon to make an appointment and when Fink saw his name scheduled in the book, she believed it to be a prank from an employee.
Dempsey earned celebrity status from his roles inย Canโt Buy Me Loveย andย Loverboyย (1989) and she was surprised when he walked through the salon door for a haircut.
โI was shocked,โ Fink recalls of that moment. โBut at the same time, I was happy because he was so cute.โ
However, likeย Sweet Home Alabamaย (2002) the romcom he stars with Reese Witherspoon, their relationship was complicated by another partner. Dempsey and Jillian were both in relationships and after three years of haircuts and conversation, the pair finally came together.
The couple was married in 1999 at his familyโs farmhouse in Maine, an intimate ceremony where Kristen Mason, the brideโs sister and business partner, said, โHe saw her and started crying.โ
The 2000โs were promising for the pair, both who enjoyed successes personally and professionally.
Following a series of box office fails, Dempseyโs slump came to an end with roles in Scream 3 (2000), Greyโs Anatomy (2005-2015), Made of Honor (2008) Valentineโs Day (2010), and Bridget Jonesโs Baby (2016).
Jillian, after spending six years as Avonโs global creative color director, is now a celebrated makeup artist, with a client list that includes many Hollywood celebrities.
The pair are parents to daughter Talula, born in 2002, and in 2007 their family of three grew to five with twins Sullivan and Darby.
Now, focusing on family, he quit racing, which he started in 2004, but still holds an interest with Dempsey Racing.
โEverybody has their own path,โ saysย Dempsey, now 57. โJill and I decided it was time to work on our issues and improve. We wanted to be role models for our kids like, okay, if you have differences, you can work them out.โ
He added, โYou can only do one thing at a time and do it well,โ he says. โI (learned) to prioritize. Our union has to be the priority. I wasnโt prepared to give up on her and she wasnโt either. We both wanted to fight for it.โ
In 2016, they called off the divorce and in 2023, the couple celebrates their 24th wedding anniversary. On February 4, Dempsey posted a loving and funny birthday message on hisย Instagram, which reads, โWishing my amazing, beautiful, talented, crazy funny wife happy birthday. This was the expression when she started to count the candles on her cake catching her in all her glory-happy birthday! Youโre like a fine wine, you only get better with age. Have a great birthday. Love you always.โ
What a sweet love story!
Tell us what you think of Patrick Dempsey leaving Greyโs Anatomy to save his marriage!
