Shonda Rhimes dealt a devastating blow to Grey’s Anatomy fans earlier this year when Patrick Dempsey’s beloved character Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd was killed off after being hit by a car. While diehard lovers of the long-running ABC drama rallied on Change.org to reinstate McDreamy’s rightful place on the show, Dempsey’s former co-star Eric Dane — whose character was also given the ax back in 2012 — was unfazed by the casting changes over the years.

“It was time for us to go. You can’t stay on a show forever. Nobody stays on a show forever,” Dane told HuffPost Live on Tuesday.

When host Alyona Minkovski lamented that both McDreamy and McSteamy’s exits from the show occurred under “tragic and horrible” circumstances, Dane responded matter-of-factly.

“That’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ That’s television. That’s Shonda television,” he said.

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with “The Last Ship” actor Eric Dane here.

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