'Grey's Anatomy' Season 11 Spoilers, Plot News: Dr. Derek Shepherd To Disappear 'For A While'

Is Dr. Derek Shepherd really leaving Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?

Well, sort of. "Grey's Anatomy" Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes finally broke her silence, confirming that fans will not be seeing McDreamy in the 11th season of the hit medical drama.

"It's highly possible that we might not see Derek for a while," Rhimes said, according to Entertainment Weekly.

But before female fans get heart attacks hoping to get rushed to Grey Sloan Memorial to see Dr. Shepherd, Rhimes clarified that actor Patrick Dempsey (who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd) "will not be gone for good by any means."

"There will be a time when you see him again, yes. But it's probable that you won't see Derek for a while," the producer said.

Rhimes' revelations came two months after Dempsey discussed his future, or the lack thereof, with the hit ABC series, saying his departure will happen "very soon."

In an interview with Portland Press Herald in November, Dempsey admitted he does not want to give up acting completely when his time with "Grey's Anatomy" is over.

"I do want to act (after 'Grey's Anatomy'), but I might take a break and go race and travel first. I haven't found a piece of material I want to do yet," Dempsey said, according to Inquisitr.

"I'm dyslexic, and I don't have the attention span to read about a lot of these things, but I can download a documentary or a book on tape, and I love that," he continued.

In the winter finale of "Grey's Anatomy," Meredith Grey firmly encouraged Derek to finally take a position in Washington D.C. after spending months resenting Ellen Pompeo's character for not taking it in the first place.

"We end them in a fairly dark place. He's walking away and she's sort of pushed him out the door. It's like, you call someone's bluff and push them out the door. He's having a hard time, she's having a hard time with this," Rhimes said.

But she teased that it is going to be an interesting season for Meredith, who may complete her transformation of becoming like her cold and heartless mother.

"I love the echoes of her mother that are in there and what that means for her. I love the idea that this could possibly mean that for the first time in her life at the hospital, she has neither Cristina nor Derek," Rhimes said.

"(She) is essentially alone and how she's going to cope with that, it's going to be very interesting for her," she added.

Grey's Anatomy returns on ABC on Thursday, Jan. 29.