Real reason why Jesse Williams left Grey’s Anatomy after fans left saddened by exit

Jesse Williams has finally revealed the reason behind his heartbreaking exit from Grey's Anatomy after an incredible 12 seasons.

Jesse, who played fan favourite Jackson Avery on the medical drama, broke hearts globally when he stepped away to join a Broadway revival.

Jackson, who was Head of Plastic Surgery in the Grey's Anatomy universe, first appeared in the sixth season of the ABC show.

Jesse left the series during season 17.

On the show, competitive Jackson seeks to distance himself from his grandfather, Harper Avery, the person who inspired the Harper Avery Award.

Aside from family struggles, Jackson is characterised by a tumultuous relationship with trauma surgeon April Kepner (Sarah Drew), which saw fans rooting for the pair to work it out.

Jackson's wrap up storyline is neatly arranged - he decides to move to Boston to help run the Catherine Fox Foundation, his mother's foundation.

He leaves for Boston with April midway through season 17.

Fans were delighted when he returned alongside April during the 18th season for the 400th episode - in an attempt to get Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) to remain at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

(ABC)

He pops up again in two episodes of season 19, as a means to help Meredith move to Boston, which gave Pompeo her very own exit from Grey's Anatomy.

And Jesse has finally opened up about his reasons for leaving the show.

Ultimately, he left to pursue a starring role in the Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out, and was joined by Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Opening up to the New York Times, Jesse said of his departure: "I knew that as I designed my exit, the next thing I did had to be terrifying. I needed to get out of my comfort zone, I needed to go into a very unknown place."

(ABC)

Reflecting on his long-standing time on the show, Jesse told The Hollywood Reporter: "I’m really proud of being able to humanise things that are always projected to be so polarising and far away in our society.

"Being able to look at the way these last couple episodes, how he went out, these are really polarising topics: racism, police brutality, racial inequality in medicine, discrimination … these are things that people put their head in the sand, deny and argue about and have been political punching bags.

"And this character and his journey has connected with people from all walks of life."

Post-Broadway show, Jesse has gone on to be cast in roles for Only Murders in the Building, and Your Place or Mine.