Katherine Heigl has finally spoken up about her notorious departure from Grey’s Anatomy. The actress who portrayed Izzie Stevens departed the beloved program more than a decade ago, in a moment that was almost as intense as the show’s onscreen drama. Fans were mostly left to speculate/let their imaginations go wild when it came to the behind-the-scenes facts of what led to Izzie’s sudden departure.

Katherine is now disclosing facts about her surprising exit, amid controversy for her comments criticizing the show’s working conditions, pulling herself from Emmy consideration, and more.

“I started a family, and it changed everything,” the 42-year-old actress revealed in an exclusive excerpt from author Lynette Rice’s new book, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, released on Sept. 18 by The Daily Telegraph. “It changed my desire to work full-time.”

Fans are also getting her take on her apparent feud with show creator Shonda Rhimes to what some saw as her own lack of gratitude for a role like Dr. Izzie Stevens.

In 2007, the 27 Dresses actress married Josh Kelley, and the couple adopted their daughter Naleigh, now 12, from South Korea in 2009.

Heigl claimed that being a mother “changed my desire to work full-time. I went on family leave and just got to be a [mom], and it changed my whole perspective … that was really the turning point.”

Heigl goes into great depth on why she decided to take a break, including how she approached Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes about it, which seems like it was all very courteous and professional and nothing like the supposed dramatic showdown:

“So before I was due back, I spoke again to Shonda about wanting to leave. Then I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumors that I refused to return were totally untrue.

“[Shonda] wanted to try to figure out how I could do both [parenting and Grey’s], and I kind of wanted to do both. There wasn’t a great way to compromise the work schedule that didn’t negatively affect the crew or the cast. It wasn’t feeling fair to them or the show to ask them to bend around my needs.”

Katherine’s character had totally vanished from the program by 2010.

Despite the fact that the star’s exit from the show wasn’t exactly seamless, she says she shares some of the blame—especially when it comes to the public’s view of how things went down.

“The ‘ungrateful’ thing bothers me the most. And that is my fault,” she said. “I allowed myself to be perceived that way. So much about living life, to me, is about humility and gratitude. And I’ve tried very hard to have those qualities and be that person, and I’m just so disappointed in myself that I allowed it to slip.”

She added, “Of course, I’m grateful. How can I not be?”

Heigl’s departure narrative began a year after her Emmy triumph in 2007, when she decided to withdraw from the next season’s Emmy campaign.

“I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and, in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention,” Heigl said in a statement to reporters at the time.

A Grey’s Anatomy source identified as a “key show insider” reached out to Entertainment Weekly to express a public rebuke in response to the comments.

“The show bent over backwards to accommodate her film schedule, and then she criticizes the show for lack of material?” the source said. “It’s an ungrateful slap in the face to the very writers responsible for her Emmy win in the first place.”

The quest for wage parity is also discussed in How To Save A Life. In 2007, Heigl was not offered a raise, unlike Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, and Isaiah Washington. She got her money after making it clear that she wouldn’t renew her contract without a pay raise and Washington’s firing.

Lynette Rice’s book will be released on September 28.