Katherine Heigl on 'Grey's Anatomy': 'I just kind of fled in a panic'

Grey's Anatomy actor Katherine Heigl revealed her thoughts behind her exit from the show.

During an interview with SiriusXM host Bevy Smith, the Emmy winner opened up about the level of "insanity" that led her to opt out of the show in 2010.

"Like, if I could have found a way to work within it, that could have also worked for me. But I only saw it as this one thing: I was up here at a level of intensity that was not healthy for me. And I just fled in a panic," she said.

Heigl believes she made the right decision but wishes she had more time to think about her decision.

"I look back at it, and sometimes I go, 'God, I wish I had just calmed down a moment. Taken a breath, thought it through and had conversations about this possibility. What about this possibility? How about if I do, you know, just this many episodes a season?'" she said.

As per Heigl, she experienced "heightened anxiety" amid working on the series because of the hit series' strenuous working conditions.

"I think with 'Grey's' at that time, I didn't feel I had any other choice [but to leave]," she said. "I was breaking, it was breaking me, and I was young."