AceShowbiz -

It's official, Gladiators. Following rumor about "Scandal" cancellation that surfaced last week, ABC has confirmed that the show's ending after season 7. Network president Channing Dungey spoke to reporters in a conference call prior to the network's upfront presentation on Tuesday, May 16 about the decision to wrap up the political drama.

"To be honest, I had conversations with Shonda [Rhimes] where she has had, for a while, a sense of how she wanted the story to end," Dungey said. "We sat and we talked and she said, 'Look, I really feel like season 7 is where I want to wrap up this story because I always prefer to end a show where you're feeling on top as opposed to letting things fizzle out.' "

She continued, "I do think that audiences, especially fans and Gladiators, who are as loyal to Scandal as they've been, are going to want the story to end in the way that Shonda intended to. That was a decision she felt really good about and we support wholeheartedly."

Rhimes also said in a statement, "Deciding how to end a show is easy. Deciding when to finish is quite simple when the end date is years away. But actually going through with it? Actually standing up to say: 'This is it?' Not so much. So, next year we are going all out. Leaving nothing on the table. Creating this world in celebration. We are going to handle the end the way we like to handle the important things in our Scandal family: all together, white hats on, Gladiators running full speed over a cliff."

An episode count for the final season has not been determined yet.