'Scandal' Jake Ballard Fans Rejoice; Scott Foley Is Returning In Season 5

Tags: scandal; Jake Ballard; Olivia Pope; Fitzgerald Grant; Scott Foley; Kerry Washington; Tony Goldwyn; Joshua Malina

BY Carla Bauto Jul 20, 2015 10:39 PM EDT

Jake Ballard is one of the most beloved characters in the ABC political drama series, "Scandal."

Played by Scott Foley, Jake Ballard started out as a villain in "Scandal" season 2, but turned out to be a good guy who happened to have good intentions for crisis management expert Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington.

A lot "Scandal" fans ended up liking Jake Ballard, even launching hashtags such as #TeamJake and #TeamOlake (Olivia and Jake), expressing support for their love team as opposed to that of Olivia Pope and Pres. Fitzgerald Grant, played by Tony Goldwyn.

However, certain scenes at the end of the last season seemed to put Jake Ballard's return to "Scandal" somewhat unsure. In one of the last scenes, Jake told Olivia that his mission is complete - with black ops B-613 shut down, B-613 Command Rowan Pope in jail, and Olivia safe at home.

In an interview, Scott Folley expressed his thoughts about the season 4 finale but did not give any hints on whether or not he will be returning in "Scandal" season 5.

"This is the finale to what I think has been a really great season. It wraps a bunch of things up. It also opens a door to what I think will be a better season next season. They're leaving a lot of things up in the air. There are a lot of roles that are going to shift," Scott Folley told Yahoo! TV.

Scott Foley fans could now relax as it seems that Jake Ballard is indeed returning to "Scandal" season 5. In a tweet, Scott Foley wrote: "I heard they're getting the band back together tomorrow. #ScandaI."

Scott was refering to the political thriller series' first table read for season 5 which was also attended by his other cast mates.

On another tweet, the actor said, "Love seeing all the excitement on Twitter! Thanks #ScandaI peeps!"

And to confirm the news that Scott Foley is really returning to the show despite producers not commenting on the matter, Joshua Malina (David Rosen), posted a photo on Instagram showing Jeff Perry (Cyrus Beane), Tony Goldwyn, Bellamy Young (Mellie Grant), and Scott Foley meeting up for the table read.