The Vampire Diaries Stars: Are Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley Still Friends?

Whether you were Team Delena or Team Stelena one thing is for sure: one cannot help but wonder what eventually happened to the three love interests whose story was at the heart of the beloved teen drama series, The Vampire Dairies.

The show premiered in 2009 on The CW, taking fans worldwide by storm and hooking us with each passing episode. But, after eight seasons in eight years, it was time to call it a wrap and for the cast to move on to other projects.

So, what became of the three co-stars? Are Nina and Paul Wesley still friends? What about Ian Somerhalder? Read on for the juicy details!

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder Dated In Real Life

Before we hop onto Paul Wesley’s relationship with Nina, let’s talk about the one she had with Ian Somerhalder! Caught between the handsome Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and broody Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) faced a tough choice but one she had to make nonetheless. In the end, she picked Damon Salvatore over his brother Stefan.

Interestingly, Nina and Ian began dating in real life several months into the series premiere. At one point, Nina had publicly proclaimed that she would never date any of her Vampire Dairies co-stars, but all this changed when she fell hard for Ian Somerhalder.

Their real-life romance lasted about three years, from 2010 to 2013, when they broke up despite their ongoing onscreen love life. The great thing about it is that the two were very professional about their break up and did not let their offscreen lives interfere with their intense chemistry on the screen and the show’s overall filming.

Paul Wesley Completely Ignored Nina During the Auditions for TVD

During the auditions for TVD, Paul Wesley was the last of the three, including Dobrev and Somerhalder, to be cast. The auditions involved a screen chemistry read, and while all the other guys auditioning flirted with Dobrev to determine if they were a match, Wesley did not bother to interact with Nina.

“I was trying to find out who I had the most sexual tension with. Paul did not speak to me and so there was no sexual tension.”

On his part, Paul figured that since they were reading the scene in the series where Elena and Stefan meet for the first time, it would be best not to interact with Nina until the auditions started. So detached was Wesley that he even refused to make eye contact with Nina.

Dobrev and Wesley Continued Despising Each Other

Nina and Paul’s unexplainable disliking for each other continued long after they were cast and began filming. When TVD premiered, the two started as a couple and their onscreen chemistry was off the hook, but in real life, they drove each other nuts and actually could not stand one another.

Speaking on Directionally Challenged, a podcast hosted by TVD co-stars Candice King and Kayla Ewell, Dobrev admitted that she did not like her onscreen romantic partner. “I respected Paul Wesley, I did not like Paul Wesley.”

She added, “There is definitely a fine line between love and hate, but we despised each other so much, to our fans, it seemed like love. But the truth is that we really just did not get along in the first few months of filming.

Somehow, Dobrev and Wesely reconciled their differences, ended their bad blood, and reached a good place on and off-screen.

Wesely backed up Dobrev’s assertions about them not liking each other at first. “The first couple of years, Nina and I completely got on each other’s nerves, and we totally clashed. But then later, we became really good friends; she is one of my closest friends.”

He added, “I think a lot of my friendships are like that where the people you do not get along with later surprise you, and we develop this wonderful friendship. Nina and Paul have, in the past, described their relationship as one of absolute mutual love.

Dobrev Still Posts Pictures of Her Encounters With Wesely

In April 2015, Nina announced that she was leaving TVD and posted a polaroid of herself and Wesely.

“I just wrapped up filming my last scene as Elena and Stefan with the lovely Paul Wesley.”

Wesely responded to the Instagram post with a broken heart emoji.

Throughout the years since they met and began filming, Nina’s Instagram has many photos of her shared memories and cute friendship moments with Paul, who she considers one of her best friends.

In 2017, Nina posted a selfie of herself and Paul and captioned it “8 years.” referencing how long they had been friends at the time.

In the years after that, the Love Hard actress continued to share pictures of her encounters with her former TVD co-star and onscreen love interest with her fans.

In 2018, Dobrev shared pictures of their serendipitous reunion in New York City. That same year, Wesely showed up at Nina Dobrev’s set of her sitcom, Fam. She wasn’t expecting him to be there and going by the video photo she shared, Nina was genuinely surprised to see Paul, captioning the video, “when your Fam comes to see you at FAM!”

Wesely was on the set in the first place because he had a planned meeting with one of the producers doing Dobrev’s Fam.

As recently as 2020, Dobrev posted a cute photo of herself, Paul, his wife Ines de Ramon, and their puppies on a playdate.

Speaking about her close relationship with her married best friend, Nina said, “I love Paul’s wife. My dog and his are like best buddies who have known each other forever.”

Dobrev further revealed that she hangs out with and spends more time with Paul than with all her other co-stars.

Nina is currently with her long-time boyfriend, Shaun White, and the rumor is that they are planning a wedding. Even though it was pretty sad to see The Vampire Dairies end, we are super happy for Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, and we wish them a life-long friendship full of love and laughter.