Ellen Pompeo has been doing “Grey’s Anatomy” since March of 2005.  But her final episode (at least as a regular cast member) airs in February. So why did she decide to leave the show?

On yesterday’s “Drew Barrymore Show”, she said, “Listen, it’s just I gotta mix it up a little bit.  I’m 53, my brain is like scrambled eggs . . . I gotta do something new . . .

“I mean 19 years . . . that’s more than people keep their kids in their house, like people keep their kids in their house until they’re 18 and then they send them off to college.  This is like me, like going away to college.”

But she added, “The show has been incredible to me and I’ve loved a lot of the experience.”