McSteamy is here to stay.

A familiar pretty face is about to become a permanent third-season fixture. Eric Dane is set to join the cast of Grey’s Anatomy, reprising his role as plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan, Dr.  McDreamy’s ex-best friend whom Meredith, Izzie and their fellow female interns cleverly dubbed “McSteamy.” Ooh, tension.

The fresh meat got his nickname when the ladies spied him stitching up his own face after Patrick Dempsey’s Dr. Derek Shepherd spied him flirting with Meredith and let him have it.

(Mark is a bad boy, having carried on an affair with Derek’s wife, Addison, prompting the Shepherds’ cross-country move to Seattle from New York. And Addison didn’t seem too unhappy when he showed up in her neonatal unit last season.)

Dane most recently played Multiple Man in X-Men: The Last Stand and before that had a recurring stint as Phoebe’s boyfriend Jason on Charmed. The actor is married to Rebecca Gayheart, who’s currently tracking down scoops as an intrepid reporter on Fox’s Vanished.

Meanwhile, after walloping CSI with last week’s season premiere, Grey’s Anatomy slipped to second place Thursday–barely. The most emotionally-embattled group of doctors this side of ER attracted 23.5 million viewers to CSI’s 23.8 million.