Ellen Pompeo opens up about parenting and Grey’s Anatomy on the Call Her Daddy podcast

Ellen Pompeo considers herself a strict parent. 

The Grey’s Anatomy star opened up about raising her three kids during an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast. 

When Cooper asked if her kids Stella, 15, Sienna, 10 and Eli, eight, would ever sneak out of the house, she had a brutal response. 

“They are not sneaking out. I will break their fingers,” she told Cooper. 

Watch the video above.

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“I am very strict. I’m super intense.”

The actress shares her kids with husband music producer Chris Ivery, who she has been married to since 2007.

It’s a rare comment about parenting from Pompeo, who has kept her family life out of the media for the most part of her career. 

The strict rules go further than sneaking out too, with the star admitting in another recent interview that she won’t let her 10-year-old watch Grey’s Anatomy. 

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Pompeo was chatting with Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live and explained the hit medical drama, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary, is getting a new audience with a younger generation. 

She confirmed her 15-year-old has seen it, but it’s her middle daughter who wants to watch and she’s put her foot down. 

“She’s not ready, but a lot of kids in her class have seen it,” she said. 

“No judgment on other parents. But I don’t want my daughter to see me in my underwear on television just yet… But all her classmates have so… That makes for great conversation at pick-up.”

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In 2023 Pompeo took a step back from her full-time role as Meredith Grey in the hit series, opting to reduce her role to be able to spend time with her family and pursue other projects.

During the podcast chat with Cooper, she admitted she had started to feel like an animal at the zoo before making the decision. 

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“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just knew that I really couldn’t do ‘Grey’s’ anymore,” she admitted. 

“It was to the point where I really just felt like an animal at the zoo. I’m a big believer in destiny. I thought, if there’s something else I’m meant to do, it’s gonna find me. But I know I have to leave this.”

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