Scandal season 3 will be broken up into two parts and take a mid-season hiatus after it returns to ABC in the fall, the network announced Sunday during the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

Scandal will have two 11-episode blocks that will air without repeats and then take a break sometime around January/February. The same was announced for Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Grey's Anatomy and Nashville. The following dates were confirmed by ABC as to when the shows return mid-season following their respective hiatuses.

Wednesday, February 26 - Nashville

Thursday, February 27 - Grey's Anatomy and Scandal

Sunday, March 9 - Once Upon a Time and Revenge.

In a Sunday tweet, actress Kerry Washington confirmed that Scandal season 3 will premiere on Oct. 3. She wrote the message after uploading a photo of her posing alongside co-stars Bellamy Young, Tony Goldwyn and Scott Foley.

Kerry Washington Talks Season 3 Spoilers

The season 3 premiere of Scandal airs Thursday, Oct. 3, at 10|9 p.m. Central on ABC. Season 2 ended in May with the revelation that Rowan is Olivia Pope's dad; Olivia learns that Fitz killed Verna; Quinn drills directly into Billy's leg when Huck is unable to torture him; Gov. Reston returns; Olivia is revealed to be the president's mistress and she ends her romance with Fitz once again. The episode ends right as the press finds out that Olivia was Fitz's mistress and she is s escorted into a limo where the head of secret spy ring B613, Rowan, was waiting for her.

The Thursday lineup this fall for ABC is 8|7 p.m. Central Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,  9|8 p.m. Central Grey's Anatomy and 10|9 p.m. Central - Scandal.

Tags: scandal