EXCLUSIVE: "Ugly Betty" set to end its ABC run this spring

 ABC’s “Ugly Betty” is strutting off the primetime catwalk.

“Ugly Betty” will close its doors this April with a series finale, the network confirmed on Wednesday. Decision to end the show’s run was announced to “Ugly Betty’s” cast and crew this morning. 

Show still has four episodes left to produce this season -- and series exec producer Silvio Horta now plans to use that opportunity to tie up loose ends and wrap things up.

“We’ve mutually come to the difficult decision to make this Ugly Betty’s final season, and are announcing now as we want to allow the show ample time to write a satisfying conclusion,” Horta and ABC Entertainment Group chairman Steve McPherson said in a joint statement. “We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series, and felt it was important to give the fans a proper farewell.”

ABC ordered 20 episodes of the show this season. Alphabet likely plans to keep the show running straight through the beginning of April, when the finale is tentatively scheduled to run.

Decision to end “Ugly Betty’s” run doesn’t come as a huge surprise; the show narrowly avoided cancellation last year -- but was moved from its longtime Thursday home to a rough Friday night berth this fall. More recently, the show has joined ABC’s hot Wednesday night lineup, bowing earlier this month in the 10 p.m. slot.

Season to date, “Betty” has averaged a 1.7 rating and 5 share among adults 18-49, as well as 5.3 million viewers. That’s down from last year, when the show ended the season with a 2.6/7 in the demo and 8.1 million viewers overall.

Based on Columbian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty La Fea,” the ABC Studios-produced “Ugly Betty” is now in its fourth season. Horta exec produces with Salma Hayek, Jose Tamez, Richard Heus, Victor Nelli Jr., Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust, Henry Alonso Myers and Sheila Lawrence. 

“Ugly Betty” stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, an fashion-challenged assistant-turned-associate editor at fashion mag Mode. Show also stars Eric Mabius, Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz, Judith Light, Becki Newton, Michael Urie, Mark Indelicato, Daniel Eric Gold and Vanessa Williams (who plays the scheming Wilhelmina Slater).

“Betty” already made waves this season for unveiling the character’s new, much-less-ugly look. By the end of the original Columbian telenovela, Betty shed her ugly duckling persona -- and fell in love with her boss. It’s unclear whether Horta has a similar idea in mind for the U.S. show’s finale.