The news Gilmore Girls fans have been waiting for is finally here: Melissa McCarthy will be back to play Sookie after all.

When most of the cast – including Lauren Graham as Lorelai and Alexis Bledel as Rory – were confirmed for the Netflix Gilmore Girls revival, everyone was waiting to see whether the Dragonfly Inn’s chef would also return.

Initial signs looked poor: Melissa, who has found success in The Boss and Bridesmaids, had a very busy schedule and left fans disappointed when she tweeted in February:

But speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she shared the exciting news that she had just agreed to do it.

“There has been something I’ve been asked about so, so many times, and it hasn’t worked out,” she teased.

“They’re making four new movies of the Gilmore Girls, which is a show that was near and dear to my heart for four years, and we could not get those schedules to work.

“There was a whole thing, and then I was going to be out of the country, and literally about an hour-and-a-half ago, we figured out that I’m going to go back and do it, and I am so excited! They’re going to be amazing.

“Amy Sherman-Palladino is going to squeeze me in to do it and I’m very excited to go back to Stars Hollow.”

After Melissa’s tweet back in February saying she had not been asked back, show boss Amy said to Entertainment Weekly: “I’ve been told by her people for months, ‘Can’t happen. Can’t happen. Can’t happen.’

“There’s nothing juicy or hidden here. It’s a matter of she’s one of the top working actresses in films today, and we are very proud of her.”

She added that everything was ready for the actress if she could make it work.

“I know what the scene is. I’ll pre-light it for her. She can drive up, run in, shoot it, and run out,” she said.

Gilmore Girls heartthrob Milo Ventimiglia is returning to the showGilmore Girls heartthrob Milo Ventimiglia is returning to the show (Richard Shotwell/AP)

“I can get her in and out in two hours. If she finds that time, I don’t care when it is, we will make it happen.”

The Netflix revival is shooting until May, so Melissa will have to squash the filming into her schedule.