Hot New Vampire Diaries Couple: Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev?!

Scoop from the cast and producer Julie Plec on what's ahead for the hit CW series

By Kristin Dos Santos Jan 10, 2010 2:40 AMTags
Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Nina DobrevFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Riddle me this, Vampire Diaries fans: Executive Producer Julie Plec just told us, "The actress Nina Dobrev has kissed Ian Somerhalder but the character of Elena has not."

Say whosey whatsey what now?

Is Julie hinting that these two hot-as-fire co-stars are now a bonafide couple who are smooching behind the scenes?

Not so fast…

She's talking about--spoiler alert!--that other character Nina plays on TVD: Katherine.

[For the record, we aren't the only ones who were a wee bit stumped when Julie said the above statement at the TV Critics winter press tour tonight. Nina herself had to whisper the explanation to Paul Wesley.]

It seems Katherine (Nina) and Damon (Ian) will share some hot and steamy screentime in an upcoming episode.

"There's a big episode coming up that's all about Katherine," Nina told me exclusively after the panel session with reporters. "I love playing her because she's everything I'm not and I can get it all out of my system. I actually have modeled the character after Ian's performance of Damon, because he does it so well." So the chemistry is palpable, friends!

"I think what Elena will learn," Ian (Damon) tells me, "is that even though he is a diabolical jerk, Damon speaks the truth. He does not lie. And Stefan (Paul Wesley) has lied to her. So Damon will win Elena over in that capacity. And who's to say Stefan isn't a little bit evil anyway? He definitely has some evil in him."

Here's what else we learned:

"The cork will be pulled on the whole basement thing," boss Kevin Williamson teases. "Before the first season is over."

"Vicki is definitely dead and won't be coming back," Kevin said when a reporter asked why Kayla Ewell (Vicki) said she wasn't really dead.

The IMDB synopsis that says Elena will become a vampire in the next episode "is completely false," boss Julie Plec said. "That happens in the books but it won't happen on this show til like season 37."Yay! You mean we get 37 seasons? You better get your non-aging, vampalicious cast some face cream, stat.

Damon and Elena are on! The road, anyway. As I teased a few weeks back, the unlikely pair will be taking a road trip (against her will) and it will lead to the blossoming of the full-fledged love triangle, with the first glimmers of a possible Damon and Elena pairing. "It's not a love triangle with only two people and," Nina says. "And now that the necklace is off, she's very vulnerable. In the next episodes we're going to see there's going to be a lot of Damon and Elena."

And one half the fanbase goes whoooooo.

The other half of you? Fear not, cause I have more scoop to spill on Julie's thoughts on the show's "one true love," which I will post once my gag order is up--OK, in reality there isn't a gag order but I haven't transcribed it yet and want to go share a few more "Vampire Bloody Marys" with the TVD gang. (My exclusive interview was awesome, and I'm officially a Julie Plec fan, btw.)

What? It's work, people!

Should Elena be with Stefan or Damon? Fight the good fight below...