Jake Borelli is finally back on Grey’s Anatomy as Levi after his surprising exit — and he’s just in time to help with Jo and Link’s wedding day.
In Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from the Thursday, May 8, episode of the hit ABC series, Borelli’s character appears the morning of Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Link’s (Chris Carmack) big day.
“What happened to your face?” he asks Jo, to which she replies, “Link’s mom is doing my makeup.”
Levi can’t help but make light of the situation — before getting distracted.
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“Does she hate you?” he quips before getting a text. “Aww. Ann Richards got a bath. [She’s the] labradoodle James and I adopted. I told you about this like four weeks ago. She was named after the former governor of Texas. Because she is Ann Richards: outspoken, wry, feminist.”
Jo interrupts Levi to ask him for help, adding, “I look like 1983 Boy George.” In response, Levi promises to assist with handling Link’s mother because he is “great with moms.” That is when Link’s mom appears with a special surprise for Jo.
“I almost forgot. I brought you something, Jo,” Link’s mom says as she shows off a veil that neither Levi nor Jo seemed thrilled by. “I wore this at my wedding and my mom wore it at hers, and now it is your turn.”
According to the official synopsis, Thursday’s episode follows Jo and Link’s wedding day, which brings some visitors. Meanwhile, “Teddy and Owen are met with a familiar face seeking treatment, and Lucas disagrees with Simone on how to approach a patient’s worsened condition.”
Borelli’s onscreen return comes less than one season after his exit. The actor was featured on eight seasons of Grey’s Anatomy before Levi left with boyfriend James (Michael Thomas Grant). In a September 2024 episode, Levi accepted a pediatric research position in Texas to help his chances at securing a surgical fellowship in the department.
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“All the way up to the end, I was in Meg [Marinis]’s office with her, typing on the computer with her, trying to figure out, ‘What is the best way to end this? What are the conversations he should be having with Jo? What is important in this gay relationship? How does this relationship differ from Nico?’” Borelli recalled to Variety in November 2024 while discussing Levi’s ex-boyfriend, played by Alex Landi. “We really focused on [Levi and James] having a very good, easy communication style, which led to them navigating this big choice of whether or not they should move across the country together. So there was a lot of input, and I’m really grateful for that.”
At the time, Borelli also recalled the decision to have Levi come out in a 2018 episode, which mirrored Borelli’s journey with his sexuality offscreen.
“I had so much trepidation. I almost said no to Krista [Vernoff, the then-showrunner] when she said that her plan was to have Levi come out,” Borelli added. “This was after a year of being on the show and playing him not queer, for all I knew. I almost said no, because I knew he would be the first major gay male character in the show, and that would be massive for the show.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Hulu.
