Caterina Scorsone Dishes on 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 18: Watch a Fiery Premiere Sneak Peek! (Exclusive)

Grey's Anatomy is hours away from kicking off season 18 and longtime star Caterina Scorsone dropped by the ET stages to step in as a special guest host for Thursday's show. The actress previewed what's to come for her character, Amelia Shepherd, in the coming season after she turned down a marriage proposal from the father of her baby, Link (Chris Carmack). 

"During the season they had many conversations about whether they would get married or not and she was very clear that she was not interested in getting married," Scorsone told ET's Nischelle Turner. "He was respectful of that initially and in front of everyone at this wedding on the beach, he proposed with children involved so I think she was not appreciating how corrosive that situation was."

‘Grey’s Anatomy’s Caterina Scorsone Talks Amelia’s Cliffhanger Proposal From Link (Exclusive)

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‘Grey’s Anatomy’s Caterina Scorsone Talks Amelia’s Cliffhanger Proposal From Link (Exclusive)

"She turned him down spectacularly, and I for one am proud that she held her boundaries," she added later. "She stated what she wanted and what she needed. He was not listening and she had to restate her boundary, which was, 'I do not want to marry you.'" Especially after multiple rings, "that's some pressure," Scorsone acknowledged. "But no means no."

The fallout from Link's failed proposal comes to a head in Thursday's season opener, which is part of a two-hour crossover event with Station 19. In ET's exclusive clip from the Grey's premiere, Amelia and Link are at the pediatrician's office, but the conversation quickly turns into a marriage counseling session as they try and rectify their awkward situation. It does not go according to plan.

"Therapy is not going well. We are turning every venue into a venue for therapy. It's not going well, we are not hearing each other. We're really like ships in the night," Scorsone teased. "We're not getting the memo."

Fingers crossed Amelia and Link get their ducks in a row before things get worse. And with Grey's heading into season 18, questions regarding the show's future are going to surface. Even though Scorsone admits she's "ready for a call at anytime" that this is the end, she has her own hopes for how Amelia's story will ultimately wrap up when the time does inevitably come to say goodbye.

"She's the queen of the universe. She's so passionate about medicine and so passionate about neurosurgery that I would want her to have like a huge win in that arena," she said. "She's brilliant and she's passionate and seeing a woman excel, especially in neurosurgery -- which typically has been a male-dominated profession -- is something we need to see more of."

Scorsone also spoke about being an outspoken advocate for those with Down syndrome and her 4-year-old daughter, Pippa. Scorsone was honored last year by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation for her advocacy work.

"It's always amazing when somebody wants to honor something you've been doing. In the case of this, it's so clearly an opportunity to bring eyeballs and ears to because I have such a big platform with Grey's Anatomy to an issue that's important and that impacts so many people," she said. "It was wonderful to be able to be the venue for more advocacy in that way."

"The thing that I want people to understand... but Down syndrome is a diversity and I think instead of looking at it like something that needs to be fixed, we need to look at it as something that's beautiful and different and all of us share this inherent human dignity. That is the thing but we all have specific differences that need to be supported. So cis women, we need feminine products, men need razors. People with Down syndrome need visual leaning cues. It's not something that we need to be worried about. It's something we need to acknowledge and support appropriately."

Grey's Anatomy premieres Thursday, Sept. 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. For more, watch below.

Watch the First Promo for 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 18 and 'Station 19' Season 5 (Exclusive)

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