Don't Worry, Maggie Smith Isn't Leaving 'Downton Abbey' (We Hope)

Don't believe everything you read, folks. Always check with the Dowager Countess herself.

Rumors started flying that Dame Maggie Smith would be leaving "Downton Abbey" after this season after the Sunday Times posted an interview and suggested as much. However, all of it was just a case of bad journalism.

What Smith actually said in the interview was this: "They say this is the last [season] and I can’t see how it could go on. I mean, I certainly can’t keep going. To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now. We’re into the late 1920s."

That's up to interpretation a bit, but it seems that Smith is saying that her character can't go on because the Dowager Countess must be 110 years old by now in the show's years. At no point did Smith saying that she's definitely leaving the show.

The show's publicity reps have stepped in and confirmed as much, saying that Smith has signed on to stay with the show for as long as it's on the air. Thus, if Smith is right and the sixth season is indeed the final one, then she will naturally be done with the show as well (as much as we'd like to see a version of "Downton Abbey" that's just Maggie Smith sitting and talking to us off-script for an hour).

So don't worry, "Downton" fans. Your Countess is here to stay.