Will Sara Ramirez Ever Return to 'Grey's Anatomy' As Callie?

CBS shut down the possibility of Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) coming back to Grey's Anatomy, according to show creator Shonda Rhimes.

During a Q&A via her Instagram story on Wednesday, Rhimes answered a question from a fan about Ramirez returning to Grey Sloan Memorial for the Season 14 finale in 2017 when Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) made her exit from the show.

Rhimes said that Ramirez, 40, was invited back. "Let me tell you something, we tried," Rhimes said. "CBS has a hold of her. Because she's on [Madam Secretary] and we can't get her. But we love her. Always. This is her home. Come home Callie."

At the end of Season 14, Arizona leaves Seattle to move to New York. Even though Ramirez was unable to make an on-screen appearance, the Season 14 finale did manage to hint at a possible Callie-Arizona reunion when the two characters exchanged flirty texts.

"I need Addison Forbes Montgomery, too," Rhimes said during the Q&A, hinting at another character she'd like to see back on the show. "But, I can't bring back people who don't exist in terms of availability. Kate's busy, people!"

Representatives from CBS maintain that no one from ABC reached out about Ramirez's availability, TVLine reported on Thursday.

Ramirez left Grey's Anatomy in 2016 and joined the cast of Madam Secretary as political strategist Kat Sandoval. Rhimes said she didn't know about Ramirez would not be returning to the show until days before it was announced, US Weekly reported in May 2016.

"I'm deeply grateful to have spent the last 10 years with my family at Grey's Anatomy and ABC, but for now I'm taking some welcome time off," Ramirez told US Weekly. "Shonda's been incredible to work for, and we will definitely continue our conversations!"

This was not the last time Ramirez mentioned these "conversations" with Rhimes about a possible comeback. "When Shonda [Rhimes] and I last spoke, we agreed to keep the conversations going, and she knows I'm open to keeping those conversations going," she said in a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"This one was different because it wasn't a big planned thing," Rhimes told Us Weekly in 2016 about Callie's departure from the show. "I had a different plan going and when Sara came in and said, 'I really need to take this break,' I was lucky that we'd shot the end of the season with her going to New York."