The creator of "Revenge" is leaving the ABC series

Although "Revenge" hasn't officially been renewed for a third season yet, the series creator, Mike Kelley, won't be back for its likely return.

ABC has confirmed that writer-producer and current showrunner Mike Kelley will depart the show after the second season wraps up this spring.

"In a difficult mutual decision between myself and ABC studios, the end of my current contract will mark my final season as showrunner for 'Revenge,'" Kelley said in a statement. "Helming this series has been the ride of a lifetime, and my producing partner, Melissa Loy, and I will look back on our "Revenge" time with deep gratitude and respect for Emily [VanCamp] and Madeleine [Stowe] and the rest of the incredible cast, our heroic crew, the dedicated and imaginative producing and writing team, and the tireless post production department ... I'm excited about finishing post production on the season two finale, which I hope will stand among the best episodes of the series thus far. Continued success to all."

According to Deadline, Kelley had been unsuccessfully pushing the network and ABC Studios for shorter seasons, more like a cable network 13-episode model as opposed to the typical 22 episodes a season, which is creatively extremely tough to pull off -- as was evident in this uneven season of the drama.

Though it started the 2012-13 season as one of the few sophomore series to improve in ratings, its numbers have recently been slightly down from its first season and has experienced a dip since its winter break. After moving from 10 p.m. on Wednesdays to the coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot, "Revenge" has suffered a 12 percent loss, season-to-date, down 10 percent in total viewers to 7.3 million viewers.

Current executive producer Sunil Nayar is expected to take over during the series' third season.