Nina Dobrev is Leaving ‘The Vampire Diaries’

After it’s sixth and current season, Nina Dobrev is saying goodbye to Mystic Falls.

In a recent Instagram posting, Dobrev confirmed that she knew her run as Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce/Every Dopplegänger would end after six seasons of The Vampire Diaries and wished the rest of the cast good luck for the future.

Dearest TVD Family, 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. 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. There’s more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you’ll get to hear all about my experiences over the next month as we approach the season finale (I have given an exclusive interview for the June issue of SELF Magazine that I am excited for you to see!), but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert’s life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her — and to my work family — as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you (this weekend’s pictures were just the beginning). You, the wonderful fandom who gave more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up in LA to audition for ‘that Twilight TV show.’ 😉 I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what’s coming, you don’t. Love, Nina

A photo posted by Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev) on Apr 6, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT

There are a ton of reasons as to why Dobrev has decided to exit. Two reasons are that the show’s ratings are not as high as they used to be or maybe due to the fact that Dobrev’s ex-boyfriend/co-star, Ian Somerhalder, is now engaged to fiancée Nikki Reed. The latter wouldn’t be so bad if the two weren’t the halves of the show’s power couple, Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore.

The Vampire Diaries‘ executive producer said that the goodbye was “bittersweet” but the show will go on; since it’s also been renewed for a seventh (and now maybe final?) season. Hey, does anyone remember when a main character left a show, leaving the show to absolutely tank in ratings?

Lookin’ at you, Mischa Barton. Thanks for ruining The OC.

That’s not the only exit on the show — Plec also spoke about Michael Trevino’s character, Tyler Lockwood, and that Trevino is “exploring new opportunities” but will “always make sure […] Tyler Lockwood always remains a part of the show”. Trevino has recently signed on for a new pilot but may return if the show does continue past season 7. The Vampire Diaries is notorious for bringing characters back from the dead so this will keep the door open for both Trevino and Dobrev, unless their characters land themselves in deep trouble by the end of the show’s current season.

What do you think is next for The Vampire Diaries? Let us know in the comments!