What We Know About Meredith’s New Potential Love Interest On Grey’s Anatomy

Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has only been single for one episode and she's already being set up by her friends. During Grey's Anatomy's season 16 fall finale Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), from all the way in Switzerland, sent Meredith a present. Her gift was a potential new love interest on Grey's Anatomy: Doctor Cormac Hayes played by Irish actor Richard Flood from Shameless (below).

When Meredith first heard that Cristina was sending a package, she was looking for an object. But, nope, it turned out that new head of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Hayes, was the package. Before Meredith learned that, though, she'd already run into some problems with Grey Sloan's newest doctor. Cormac does things his own way, determined to give patients all the information, even if it scares them. Meredith asked him to wait to tell a young girl's parents that she could have cancer until after the biopsy was performed, but Cormac told them anyway. She didn't end up having cancer, and Meredith was annoyed that he'd worried the family for no reason.

But Cormac did have a reason. He told Meredith that his wife's doctors didn't give him all the information before her death, and he was determined never to do that to anyone else. Yep, Cormac is single and he could be ready to mingle with newly-single Meredith. Christina has already christened him "McWidow" in a reference to "McDreamy," "McVet," and "McSteamy" — the hot doctors that Cristina and Meredith nicknamed back in the day when they both worked together in Seattle.

Meredith isn't necessarily looking at McWidow as a new boyfriend, but they do seem to have potential to go from enemies to something more. It's fitting that Cormac was a "present" from Cristina, because he's a lot like her. No nonsense, always putting the patient first, but also with a little bit of a softer spot. For example, when his teenage patient lamented that the boy she liked didn't like her back, Cormac said that, as a father of teen boys, he knows that sometimes they're just too shy to talk to the girls they like. Meredith smiled when he told that story, so she doesn't seem to completely hate him.

When Meredith and DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) dated, they didn't have a whole lot in common besides being doctors. He wasn't at the same career level as her, he didn't have children, and there were just a lot of things about her life he couldn't really fully understand. Cormac is all of those things DeLuca wasn't — and he could end up being a good fit for Meredith if she can see past his slightly larger ego. 

And more importantly, he's sticking around for a while.

Deadline reported that Flood is booked for a recurring role this season, which means that his character Cormac will be on several more episodes, especially if the fan response is decent.

Unfortunately, his presence seems to indicate that Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) is really not leaving Pac North any time soon. Cormac is filling Alex's old job at Grey Sloan, so there really just isn't room for Alex to return. But while Meredith may not have either of her "people" (Cristina or Alex) at her hospital, she does have a new doctor who has Cristina's stamp of approval. That's a good place for any potential relationship to start. Love him or hate him, Cormac is here to stay. And DeLuca, who still wants Meredith back, is not gonna like that.