Brooke Smith’s last appearance on Grey’s Anatomy will come this week in a surprise shakeup that will put an end to the show’s first prominent gay relationship.

Reports indicate that the decision came from ABC and not Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes. Smith’s character, Dr. Erica Hahn, was in the midst of a developing relationship with Sara Ramirez’s Callie Torres.

“I really hoped we were going to show what happens when two women fall in love and that they were going to treat it like any heterosexual couple on TV,” Smith tells Entertainment Weekly, which broke the story. “And so I was surprised and disappointed when they just suddenly told me that they couldn’t write for my character anymore.”

The actress also tells EW that when Rhimes informed her of the decision to get rid of Hahn, “it definitely seemed like her hands were tied.”

In a statement, Rhimes says that “Brooke Smith was obviously not fired for playing a lesbian. Clearly it’s not an issue as we have a lesbian character on the show — Calliope Torres. Sara Ramirez is an incredible comedic and dramatic actress and we wanted to be able to play up her magic. Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke’s character would sustain in the long run.

“The impact of the Callie/Erica relationship will be felt and played out in a story for Callie. I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with ‘another lesbian.’ If you’ll remember, Cristina mourned the loss of Burke for a full season.”

Callie and Erica weren’t the show’s first gay couple — recurring character Joe the bartender (Steven W. Bailey) is in a committed relationship with another man — but they were the first to be a regular part of the show’s story. And it’s looking like Smith’s departure will quash any other same-sex relationships for a while.

E! Online is reporting that Melissa George’s character, who will first appear on the show Nov. 13, was originally written as bisexual but has now been “de-gayed.” A source tells the site that George’s character, an old friend of Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) named Sadie, “starts off flirting with Callie but it never goes anywhere.”

Source: Zap2It