With rumours that ABC's hit political thriller, Scandal, will end after its seventh season next year, actress Kerry Washington has opened up about motherhood and finding the perfect work-life balance for her family.

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In an interview with Net-A-Porter's fashion magazine, The Edit, which features the 40-year-old star on the cover of its new 'Power Women' issue and during which she admits to breast-feeding her 7-month-old son, Caleb, the New York-born star admits: 'I can be covered in spit-up on a conference call while I'm pumping and that's OK, because this is my perfect.

'It may not be somebody else's, but this is mine,' she added.

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Amid news Scandal's show runner Shonda Rhimes has called time on Washington's Emmy Award-winning series, Kerry praised her boss' work ethic.

Speaking of her role model, Kerry – who is mother to Caleb and three-year-old daughterr, Isabelle, said: 'Shonda's got I-don't-know-how-many shows now, plus three kids, and she just figures it out.

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'However busy I feel, Shonda feels busier, so I'm just going to rise to the occasion. She's been a real role model. Seeing the community she's created and the work ethic—I feel like there should be more of this in the world,' she explained.

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Speaking of her own production company, Simpson Street (named after the street in The Bronx, NYC where her mother few up) and the HBO film Confirmation, in which the actress plays a law professor who accuses a Supreme Court nominee of sexual harassment, the BET Award-winning star revealed:

'We're looking to do diverse work that brings more and more people to the table—anyone whose voice is underrepresented.

'We're trying to carve out a space for them at the table of empowered storytelling,' she said.

Sounds like worthy watching to us.

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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.