Meet the woman who inspired ABC's 'Scandal'

It's the show that has us on the edge of our couches and dying to know what happens next, but did you know there's a real life "fixer" who inspired the character of Olivia Pope? She breaks down fact versus fiction on the high stakes drama.

Scandal's Olivia Pope is the no nonsense gladiator who will stop at nothing to fix a crisis. Every Thursday, she brings us drama, intrigue and well, a little hot office romance. But the woman behind the gladiator, the woman Olivia Pope's character is based on, says her life isn't nearly as exciting.

"Most of our work is corporate work. We do a lot of high profile individuals and really I'm on the phone a lot. I'm on the phone a lot," crisis manager Judy Smith said.

Smith is the real life crisis manager who inspired the show. As the founder and president of Smith and Company, she's helped corporations, celebrities and presidents survive the most sensitive of situations. She even represented Monica Lewinsky during the scandal with President Bill Clinton.

The show "Scandal" was born from a conversation Smith had with show creator Shonda Rhimes.

"It was supposed to be a quick, one of those 15 min meetings when you tell the secretary, 'Knock on my door in 15 minutes' and it ended up... God I think we talked for about an hour and a half," Smith said. "By the time I got to the parking lot, she was like, 'I got to do a show on you.'"

Smith says Rhimes does a good job dramatizing what she does and star Kerry Washington knows how to deliver.

"Kerry does an amazing job. We talk each script which is really, really great and we email," Smith said.

Smith does a lot of consulting for the show, sending Rhimes ideas for the next possible crisis.

"We talk about it. I read every script, I send in notes, sometimes I'm on the set, so it's all been fun. It's been good," Smith said.

While the show is modeled after her life, Smith wants to set the record straight on a couple key points.

"Number one... I want all your viewers to know I did not have sex with the president," Smith said.

And about Huck and all those dead bodies?

"We often get questions about moving dead bodies from crime scenes. That doesn't happen in my actual office in Washington, just to assure everyone," Smith said.

But it isn't all television fantasy stretched by the imagination.

"On one of the episodes last season there was a theme about rigging an election and people said, 'Oh that can't really happen.' Two days later, it was in the newspaper that an election was rigged in a jurisdiction," Smith said.

So there is some truth to it. And much to our relief, she says with crisis it's endless.

"On the world of crisis, there's no shortage of things. There's so many crisis that go on," Smith said.

And that means our beloved 'Liv has the potential to keep us on this thrill ride for several more seasons to come.

Smith says at the end of the day. She does what she does because she really just enjoys helping people. Whether it's a high profile person, an everyday person or a corporation, we all make mistakes and she just likes helping people navigate through life's highs and lows.