In the minute-long ad, Heigl is having lunch with a friend and her son when she makes her friend laugh so hard she admits, “I peed myself.” When her son expresses disgust, Heigl tells him that the “giggling dribble,” or lack of bladder control, is “kind of [his] error.”
Heigl goes on to explain, “You see, when we have children, there can be a weakening of the pelvic floor or the muscles and ligaments that help support the bladder.” It goes into even more detail about how various bodily functions, such as menopause or perimenopause, can also lead to bladder leakage. When her friend asks how the blonde bombshell knows so much medical information, Heigl quips, “Well, I used to be a doctor,” with a knowing look into the camera.
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Heigl’s departure from Grey’s it came after she withdrew from Emmy consideration following the beloved series’ fourth season.
“That year, I kind of tried to suggest that my material was kind of ugly, but I also wasn’t feeling my material. I didn’t think I had anything that warranted even consideration for a nomination. I’m not proud of my work,” she explained to Howard Stern in 2016.
This decision led to her character being written off the show and earned her a reputation as “difficult”. This ad’s nod to her past as a “doctor” is in some ways the closest she’ll ever come to reprising her role as Dr. Stevens.
Heigl spoke out People about her decision to star in a commercial about perimenopause and bladder control issues that some women may find uncomfortable to talk about. The mother of three was trying to remove the stigma surrounding bladder leakage. (Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley have adopted daughters Naleigh, 15, and Adalaide, 12, as well as a biological son, Joshua, 7.
“When I talk to my friends, we all laugh about it,” she told the paper. “I’m not okay with anyone out there feeling ashamed or embarrassed about it because it’s such a natural progression of a woman’s existence.” Her goal in creating the ad, she explained, was for women to “not take it too seriously and be able to laugh at it. […] I’m happy to say it out loud if it helps other women feel comfortable,” he said Firefly Lane proclaimed star.
