Ladies and gay men rejoice, because McDreamy is coming back for more.

We all felt a little empty inside when Patrick Dempsey left Grey's Anatomy all those years ago. There was a McDreamy shaped hole in hearts around the world. And then, spoiler alert, McDreamy returned - and he looks set to be making a few more appearances too. Unless you were living under a rock for the last few days, you will be aware of the actor's glorious return in the first episode of the 17th series of the show. Last week the show did what no one thought they would do and they brought back Patrick Dempsey. Some might say it was the best part of 2020. Derek appeared to Meredith in a dream like sequence which had fans all over the world rejoicing - and we have some even more good news, because the plan is to have him back for another few appearances over the series. Grey's showrunner Krista Vernoff told the Los Angeles Times that it was the star of the show, Ellen Pompeo, who actually pitched Dempsey for a return. "In all my wildest fantasy imaginings of who we might get, he was not on the list," she said. "Because there was some complexity around him leaving the show." Pompeo had gone on a hike with Dempsey recently, and had a feeling he would come back this year if the offer was there. Venroff describe the scene as "so moving and healing." This show has been on for 17 seasons," she said. "There’s been some drama around some exits. And there have been enough years in the interim that everyone grows up; they grow up, they realise where they got things wrong. What it felt like was a homecoming. "The return was so top secret that most of the crew didn't even know about it, nobody knew what we were doing — to the point that when the crew showed up on the day we shot the scene, nobody knew. It was top secret." Vernoff said McDreamy's return is "not just a cameo" either, as Patrick is due back for a few more scenes in the medical drama.