‘The Vampire Diaries’ Cancelled After Season 8? Ian Somerhalder Thinks Nina Dobrev’s Return Will Save Series

The Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder reportedly wanted Nina Dobrev to return to The CW series come season 8. Contrary to early reports, Nikki Reed’s husband is not ready to leave the show just yet. In fact, he even had a few suggestions for the TVD writers on how to further improve the show.

In an interview with E! News, Somerhalder shared that, if it were up to him, he would want The Vampire Diaries season 8 to go back to the basics. He explained that he wanted the coming season to focus on the original cast members, possibly even including his ex-girlfriend Nina Dobrev.

“What made people fall in love with this story was its characters, not 40 of them, like eight of them, six of them—this core group of actors, of characters that really move you,” he explained.

Many outlets cannot help but read into Ian Somerhalder’s statement, insisting that it was a subtle hint that he wanted Nina Dobrev to return to The Vampire Diaries. They pointed out that Damon and Elena’s love story was one of the main reasons why fans stuck with the series for seven years and counting.

In case the The Vampire Diaries would end after season 8, Somerhalder said that he wanted to use whatever time they have left to make the fans feel much closer to the characters, more than ever before.

“We don’t know where that’s going to go but leaving the audience with the fact that by that time they will have spent eight years of their life with these people, I want the audience to feel closer, more afraid, more in love, more in tune with these characters than they ever have been.”

While it seems like The CW had a lot of faith in The Vampire Diaries, green lighting season 8 even before season 7 ended, some of the cast members, including Ian Somerhalder himself, are quite unsure what the future brings.

Speaking to TV Guide, the actor admitted that TVD may have lost its spark in the last five or six seasons. Somerhalder believed that being given the opportunity to show viewers that they still have it, is definitely one of their goals come season 8. It was said that bringing Nina Dobrev back into the mix, focusing once again in Damon and Elena’s story, will definitely help increase the show’s ratings.

“It’s almost like we’ve been chasing a high for the last five, six years. Do you remember when Elena ran to the Salvator house and asked Stefan, ‘What are you? What the f— are you?’ And he says, ‘A vampire.’ Do you remember how big that moment was? It was huge. And now, we have to kill six or eight people, blow up three cars and a house to get that same emotion. Do you know what I mean?” he shared.

“I would look at this season as being a very, very important time to notch up our belts and really put our big boy and big girl pants on in terms of telling stories that connect back to the ways this show [once was],” he continued.

According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, Nina Dobrev was “stunned” when The Vampire Diaries was renewed for another season. Given its less than stellar ratings, the actress was allegedly expecting the show to be cancelled.

The outlet further reported that the renewal was definitely surprising given that both TVD and The Originals only drew an average of one million viewers while other Friday shows such as The Amazing Race and Grimm were watched by four to five million fans. The publication claimed that Dobrev was furious about the renewal, thinking that the show would tank without her.

Now that former co-star and ex-boyfriend Ian Somerhalder expressed interest in bringing her back, will Nina Dobrev swallow her pride and return to The Vampire Diaries come season 8? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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