Keep An Eye On Maggie's Steamy Love Interest In 'Grey's' Season 17

After a long hiatus, Grey's Anatomy is finally back with Season 17, and the new season is bringing some hot romances with it. Over the years, Maggie has had a few ups and downs when it comes to love, but the new character Winston might the one to change everything for her. So, who is Winston in Grey's Anatomy? He's going to be playing a big role this season.

Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) was first introduced at the end of Season 16, when Maggie (Kelly McCreary) ran into him at a medical conference. It turns out, the two go way back to Maggie's days at Tufts when she was a resident and Winston was in medical school. It turns out, Winston had a crush on Maggie back then, but he never acted on it because Maggie was his teacher. Wellllll, she's not his teacher anymore, and so the two of them shared a whirlwind romance during the conference weekend.

At the end of their weekend together, Winston told Maggie he thought one of them should move to be where the other lives. (He moves fast!) Maggie said she needed time to think about the idea, but no matter what she decides, audiences can rest assured they will definitely be seeing more of Winston, since Hill was promoted to a series regular for Season 17.

Ahead of the Season 17 premiere, Hill talked to Entertainment Tonight about what fans can expect from Winston and Maggie in the coming episodes, which pick up about a month into the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. He said:

The romance is, right from the start, a long-distance romance due to COVID-19 and the protocols that are in place around the world, especially for doctors. Maggie and Winston are having a relationship that's playing out virtually. A lot of people are dealing with this — a lot of people around the world — not just [in the] medical world, like I said, but the dating world. Single, couples all alike are on their screens and on their phones and on FaceTime and having dates in this way and getting to know each other in a different way. That's where we find [Maggie and Winston], getting to know each other virtually.

There might be more than video chats in store for Winston and Maggie, though. The synopsis for the second part of the two-hour Season 17 premiere says that "Winston surprises Maggie," which could mean their romance will heat up even more very soon.

Season 17 of Grey's Anatomy premieres Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.