Grey's Anatomy's previous season saw the surprise departure of fan-favourite character Dr. Arizona Robbins – and Jake Borelli has paid tribute to his former co-star Jessica Capshaw, calling her an "icon".

Capshaw left the show alongside Sarah Drew (who played Dr. April Kepner) in the season 14 finale.

Shanna Fisher

"Jessica Capshaw is such an icon for the LGBTQ community," Borelli, whose own character Dr. Levi Schmidt is part of a new gay romance storyline this season, told Digital Spy.

"She and I bonded quite a bit, especially at the end of last season because we had a lot of scenes together.

"It was such a great opportunity to get to work with such an iconic character on the show and an actress and a character that I looked up to for so long as an audience member. And I'm just so glad that I got to have an opportunity to work with her before her character left the hospital."

ABC

Related: Grey's Anatomy star Jake Borelli teases "insane" midseason finale between Levi and Nico

Borelli added: "It's been interesting. It's something the show does. They bring in new characters and old characters leave and people die and babies are born.

"It's a whole life, and I think it's something that's special about the show."

Showrunner Krista Vernoff recently explained why the decision was made to drop Capshaw and Drew, saying that she believes the show had "an unmanageable number of series regulars to write for".

ABC

Meanwhile, Borelli also discussed with Digital Spy his own LGBTQ+ storyline between Levi and Nico, promising an "insane" midseason finale for the pair.

Grey's Anatomy airs on ABC in the US and on Sky Living and NOW TV in the UK.

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