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The Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev has announced she will exit the long-running CW series after the end of the current sixth season. Co-star Michael Trevino will also depart the series.
Pictured: ‘Vampire Diaries’ executive producer Julie Plec and star Nina Dobrev; courtesy Instagram
“I’ve just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries. I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn’t just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party,” wrote the actress on Instagram. “I always knew I wanted Elena’s story to be a six-season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there’s still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I’ll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever.”
Over the course of six seasons, Dobrev portrayed numerous characters, with Elena Gilbert (her main character) and Katherine (her doppelganger) as the most popular. It’s been a long ride for the actress who booked TVD while still a cast member on the Canadian drama Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Dobrev’s departure will be a big loss, but thankfully the series’ future is safe for at least one more year. The CW renewed the supernatural drama for a seventh season in January.
Vampire Diaries executive producer Julie Plec (pictured above with Nina Dobrev) released a statement about Dobrev’s exit:
“Saying goodbye to Nina is both bittersweet and beautiful. After six-plus years together, the entire cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries has reached a level of closeness that I don’t think any of us ever expected. Nina is excited to spread her wings, get some rest, travel the world and also take it by storm, and we support her a thousand-fold. We will miss Nina and the four hundred characters she played, but we look forward to the insane and exciting challenge of continuing to tell stories of our Salvatore Brothers and our much-loved and gifted ensemble.”
Photo courtesy The CW
Dobrev’s exit comes as the series has lost several fan favorites throughout the sixth season. Steven R. McQueen (Jeremy) last appeared in the fourteenth episode of the season. Michael Trevino (Tyler) booked a role in the ABC pilot The Kingmakers and is expected to be written out as well.
“Michael has been a beloved member of the Vampire Diaries family since Day 1. Even though he’s also going to be out in the world exploring new opportunities, we look forward to finding creative ways to make sure he and his character Tyler Lockwood always remain a part of the show,” said Plec.
How will Elena’s departure from Mystic Falls effect the lives of her current love Damon (played by Ian Somerhalder) and former flame Stefan (Paul Wesley)? Elena’s made her choice (Damon, obviously) in love, but little does she know that Damon has a game changer that could alter the course of her future. In the seventeenth episode “A Bird in a Guilded Cage,” Elena’s best friend Bonnie (Kat Graham) gave Damon a magical cure that could turn Elena (now a vampire) into a human. Is that how their love story will end? I guess we’ll have to find out for the answers. I’m not ready to say goodbye.
For more on the actress exit, look for an exclusive interview in the June issue of SELF magazine.
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