Ian Somerhalder feels your pain, Delena shippers. The Vampire Diaries star knows that this first season without Nina Dobrev will be hard on the people who want Elena to wind up with Damon Salvatore, but he has a special message for those of you having trouble coping as season seven begins.
"All I can say about that is that they were great characters separate, they were great characters together, and they remain great characters separated," the actor tells E! News on the Vampire Diaries set in Atlanta. "Damon is still here and he's still evolving and he's still having a blast and he's still saying super-smarmy, ridiculously overly confident, very wildly embarrassing and degrading things and he will continue to do that, but with a little love for Elena in his heart."
But, you know, it's not exactly possible for them to be together when she's sealed in a coffin for the next few decades. "It's not so great for a relationship. I would not recommend it," he jokes in the video above.
In all seriousness, though, Damon without Elena is just another step in TVD's journey. "I'm thinking that this is the evolution of the show," Somerhalder says. "Obviously she is in his heart and he is going to have a very tough time understanding how to go on, but that's what drama's for."
In the meantime, Damon will get back to seeing how many ladies he can fit in his gigantic bed, which Somerhalder said he had a bit of input in designing. "I said, 'As long as he can fit up to eight sorority girls, then that's how big we should make the bed.' That's Damon Salvatore, you know what I mean? He's not married."
Check out more of Somerhalder's musings on Damon's future without Elena in the video above, and tune in to The Vampire Diaries season seven premiere on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. on The CW.