Are you lonesome tonight? Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart? Does your man?
Hi guys, this is a. Very, very, very special episode
of Significant Lovers. It's our 99th episode and it's
our first with a third host officially.
Hi, everybody. Hi.
So, you know, Mel and Kel, Kel, Mel, I'm Kel.
I'm Mel. And it's been us too for years,
because we had another bite of Twilight before this podcast and
for the first time ever we are bringing on 1/3 mic permanently.
Yes. We are welcoming Caitlin Kelly's
sister, my cousin, to the podcast.
She has been an unofficial background host for the podcast
for the past couple years, running our YouTube and being
our biggest supporter, listening to all of our episodes and
enjoying all the fun with us. And Caitlin, we're so happy to
have you officially on the podcast.
You're going to add such a nice perspective and welcome.
Oh my God, thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here and be
a part of it and I guess host another episode and this time is
like a full time. Kate did the Larry episode in
the past, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, so she's done it.
Before yeah, this isn't my first rodeo, but I'm nervous and
excited all the same because this is just so exciting.
So Kate, tell us, who are we covering today?
Yes. So today we are covering one of
the most iconic relationships of the 20 tens, which is Nina
Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder. I feel like they were really
popular and still are. I feel like we get a lot of
people asking us to do it. So they're from the TV show
Vampire Diaries. Well, I'm guessing that's how
they met, right? But and you watched it and are
super into Vampire Diaries. Correct, The Vampire Diaries is
one of my all time favorite shows.
I love it so much I've probably watched it all the way through
like at least three or four times.
Way too many. I just love it so much.
I didn't watch it while it was airing, it was only until like
20, 2022 when I started watching it and that's because I didn't
really have anything to watch at the time.
And it was like my senior year of college and all my friends
are recommending it for like the 100th time because all my
friends had watched it and I thought I might as well watch
it. So I did and well like the rest
is history I guess cuz now I love it and I watch it like all
the time especially when it's fall, which it's now fall.
But I think you're right in that they were very high profile
because I did not watch The Vampire Diaries.
Obviously, I was a huge pilot fan as well as Mel, and I think
it was just a little too close to home.
And I just, I don't know why I couldn't get into it.
Yeah, so I didn't watch it, but I still knew about them.
So even people that never watched it still heard about it
so. And that's one of the reasons
why I didn't watch it was because you didn't, because I
watched like a lot of the same shows that you did.
Because if you remember, we watched the pilot as a family.
And I don't really remember much of it, but I just remember
everyone being like no. And so then I was just like, I
guess it sucks. And then just didn't watch it.
Dang, you found your way. What about you?
Well, pilots are tough. I watched it years ago and I
honestly, I was a little scared and Caitlin has been really
wanting us to watch the show. That's just 'cause I know you
would like it. I know you would love it.
I know, but I will say when I do watch it, even now, I get kind
of scared because there's just a lot of scenes where something
jumps out at. You it's a Halloween episode.
Yeah, no, seriously IT guys, it's ACW show, but it is a jump
scare. But yeah, so Nina and Ian were
on the show and I'll get into that in a little bit, but their
characters of Damon and Elena were like one of the bigger
couples and ships from the show. And they're one of my favorite
TV ships, like of all time. And I think a lot of people who
watch the show would say the same.
So that also had another added element to the couple.
It wasn't just, oh, these two actors are dating.
It's these two actors who are also the same actors who are
playing a couple on a popular TV show.
And the characters that they're playing and the couple that
their characters are in, we're also really popular.
And that is tricky because if you really ship the characters
in the show, it's really hard not to ship the actors, even if
you don't know anything about them or even if they're not
really compatible in real life. And then I'm guessing this will
come up with this couple. If the couple breaks up in real
life, could that potentially destroy your favorite ship in
the show? Yeah, it's very similar to like
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in that way.
But it is it's hard when you see a couple on screen that has such
amazing steamy chemistry and you think, how can they not be
attracted to each other? They seem like they are, you
know? It's hard to.
Believe, and it's disappointing when they're not.
Hard for me to wrap my head around actors having chemistry
naturally and they're not being anything behind that.
Like how good of an actor can you really be to fake that?
You know? There has to be something.
I guess they can so. Kate, I don't believe.
Words Kate. What 3 words would you use to
describe this couple? OK, so the three words I'd use
describe them are cute, comfortable, and cordial.
OK. That's pretty positive.
I know you might be surprised so.
I have a question. I have a question.
Not to get a header spoiler, but maybe this will make people a
little excited. Will a certain Nicki Reed show
up in this episode? Yes, and I was even going to
mention that because I know you touched on Ian a little bit in
your Nicki Reed episode for the Another Bite of Twilight
podcast. So I know you already know a
little bit about him from that, but there's going to be a lot
more. So just in case if you forget
what you, you know, talked about in that, I will be touching on
him as well as her in this episode.
So yes. OK, I'm excited.
Before we talk about Nina and Ian as a couple, we should first
talk about them separately first we'll talk about Ian 'cause he
was born first. Ian Joseph Somerhalder was born
December 8th, 1978 in Louisa, Louisiana, United States.
Older than I, so yeah, he's. Wrong with that.
He's a little older, I think he's in his 40s now I think.
Everybody I admire is in their 40s now.
Wait not to skip ahead? Not to skip ahead though, I feel
like Nina must be pretty young. She is exactly, almost exactly
10 years younger than him. Oh God, that makes sense.
Yeah, OK, so so she's younger, but not by like a huge stretch
of time, not like 20 years or anything.
So Ian's mother, Edna, she was a massage therapist.
She is half Choctaw, which is a indigenous tribe based in
Louisiana and that area, as well as half Irish.
His father, Robert, is an independent building contractor
with Cajun ancestry and is the second of three children with an
older brother and a younger sister.
And because of his Cajun side and growing up in Louisiana, he
is fluent in both French as well as English.
I didn't know that. I know it never really comes up
ever I feel like. So I was very surprised when
researching this. Wow I know cuz like the show
never took advantage of it. You'd think they would maybe
include it somehow but no. So Ian was definitely like a
small town southern boy. He rode horses, played football,
haunted, went camping. But he was also a theater kid at
the same time who loved performing, which his parents
really loved because Ian later told Garden and Gun Magazine in
2021 that growing up in Louisiana, his family was super
poor. So Ian's natural talents in
front of the camera and on stage gave his mom the idea of making
him into a model slash actor. So she was kind of like a stage
mom in that regard. I think we have a couple of
people you've covered on the past who have had similar
parents, so this isn't anything too new.
I think this is how a lot of people get into the business is
because their parents want them to be in the business.
He is very good. Looking I got, I know, which is
kind of crazy because he was like a really young kid when
they were trying to make him into a model.
So it wasn't even like he was really like a teenager.
It was like he was a really cute kid or something.
OK, now I have a baby. I know he.
Grows up into a beautiful man. Yeah, so his mom took every
penny that they had in their savings and put him in modeling
and acting classes. She also rented an apartment in
New York every summer for three years to get him better
opportunities. And at the age of 10, she
entered him into a modeling competition in South Carolina
where he won a three-year contract with Ford Models.
And after that he started appearing in ads for Ralph
Lauren, The Gap, Toys-R-Us, plenty of other companies as
well. And Ian admitted that by the age
of 11 he was making more money an hour than people with pH DS.
And then it was really scary for him to experience and that
looking back on, he doesn't think it was like a healthy
thing for a child to be going through.
Sounds nice though. Yeah.
And when he was when he was 14, his parents divorced and he
started living primarily with his mother.
And six years after that competition, when he was 10 for
the Ford Models Agency, in 1994, at the age of 16, he dropped out
of high school and moved to New York to model full time.
He was very booked and busy. He constantly bounced back and
forth between Europe and the United States to model on
runways and fashion spreads. So even though he mostly grew up
in Louisiana, by the time he was 16, he was internationally
traveling like he was all over the place of.
That yeah, I didn't realize he was such a model.
I know, yeah. He was like on all these runways
when he was 16. Oh, he walked in shows.
Yeah, he walked in shows. Wow.
Like Paris Fashion? You're going to say melon?
Fashion Week. I was just say, what does that
do to a young guy? You know, like.
I know. Not to stereotype, but how do
you stay humble when that's your life?
I feel like you probably kind of don't, but but I feel like he
was slightly humbled from his upbringing a little bit.
I think if he was used to wealth growing up, maybe he would be
way less down to earth, yeah. Makes sense?
So yeah, he was a big famous model and he loved modeling, but
he thought that his hectic schedule constantly moving
around kept him from his true passion, which was actually
acting. So after a year or two, Ian
retired as a model for the time being.
I think he's still modeled occasionally, but not as much.
And began taking classes from a famous acting teacher in New
York City called William Esper. And then in 2000 and was cast
and starred in ATV show called The Young Americans, which was a
spin off of Dawson's Creek. However, it was very short
lived, so it didn't have like multiple seasons or anything
like that. And then in 2002, he starred in
a movie adaptation of Brett Easton's Ellis novel The Rules
of Attraction. Oh, cool.
And that was a good role for him and it got him to be on some
people's. Radar, I know the.
Word. Yeah, Radar.
I couldn't think of the word I've.
Been meaning to, I've been meaning to read that book and
watch that movie. So.
Oh really? I didn't know he was in it, so
that's interesting. But then after that, in 2004,
two years after his debut in the Royal.
Subtraction movie. He scored his breakthrough role
as Boone Carlisle in the TV series Lost.
Yes, Kelly loves waiting for this.
Yeah, Charlie got me into Lost and I, I love it.
I find lost even scarier than. No, man, it it gets it gets less
scary, it's not scary. Oh my God, that first episode I
could not do. When that person gets sucked up
into that plane, I'm like, forget about it.
No, that's like 5 minutes into the episode.
I know it's in the beginning. And I didn't know there would be
like kooky stuff in loss too. The thing is like I can only
watch this stuff if I'm like out of sleepover.
I cannot be going to bed in my own room otherwise I'm thinking
about it all night and can't fall asleep.
That's OK. But yeah, he was like a pretty
mean character on the show, but he's not in every season.
Spoiler. Yeah, so even though he wasn't
on the show for that long, because loss was such a big hit,
it gained him a lot of attention.
And he did say it was one of the greatest experiences of his life
at being on the show. And then he was very grateful
for it. And because he was on Loss, it
actually gave him the opportunity and the chance to
audition for The Vampire Diaries for The CW 'cause I think the
showrunners had seen Lost and they had seen him, and they were
intrigued to have him read. Yeah, because of that.
Who's that hot guy? Exactly.
So he auditioned for The Vampire Diaries in 2009 and was
eventually cast as the character of Damon Salvatore.
And that was alongside Nina Dobrev.
Who is that? Well, before we get into her, I
wanted to mention about Ian's personality because that's, I
know that something that you guys like to talk about a little
bit. Oh yeah.
So I know it seems like he probably does have an ego.
And I know Mel, you believe that he might, but apparently he's
reported to have a lack of ego. We don't know these people, but
so. Just because Mel said that like
a minute ago. No, she said that to me before.
No, she said this to me before. She's like, oh, I.
I know someone who knows someone who knows someone that says that
he's kind of an asshole, but you know, got a couple degrees away
from him. Yeah, so you never know.
It could have been a bad day or something.
Again, we don't know these people, but he's been said to
have a lack of ego. I'm sorry, I know someone who
knows someone so 2° away. A friend of mine, a friend of
hers knows him. OK, well anyway, he's also
supposedly ambitious. He's very charitable.
He even has a bunch of charities in his name.
Passionate both about like his charities, the earth, cuz he
really big into climate change and fighting against that.
Same with, you know, we'll get into that down the line.
And he also, yeah. And he's also very outdoorsy as
well, big on some of the more southern hobbies that he had
growing up. Well, anyway, so who is this
Nina Dobrev who was cast in The Vampire Diaries alongside Ian
Somerhalder? Nicolina Caminova de Breva was
born in Bulgaria on January 9th, 1989.
What? Nickname.
I know, so Nina de Brev isn't even really like her real name,
but I mean, that's how it is for most people in Hollywood.
So she's also fluent in English and Bulgarian because of that.
Wow, learn something new everyday.
So her dad was a computer specialist and her mom was an
artist. She has an older brother.
When she was 2, her family relocated to Canada where she
was raised in Scarborough, Toronto.
However, at the age of 10, in 1999, she moved back to Bulgaria
with her mom for two years. I don't know what her dad and
her brother were doing, but for some reason it was just her and
her mom that moved to Bulgaria. I feel like we often hear things
like that on this show. I know it's weird.
She also. Went with her to New York City
for a couple years. Like what?
What about the rest of the family?
I know same with like even Ian like him and his mom and his
brother went to New York every summer as like without the dad
without some of the other siblings.
Well, anyway, take a drink because she travelled around a
lot. So they went between like
Bulgaria and Turkey and Romania and a lot of the neighboring
other countries and then also back to Canada as well.
Wow. So growing up, Nina was also an
accomplished dancer, namely in ballet and jazz, and also a
competitive athlete. She was the substitute on the
Canadian National team for rhythmic gymnastics, she told
Penn Badgley on his podcast Pod Crushed, who we've talked about
before. Oh.
I listen to that. The one with him, or I mean with
the one with her. I think.
So, well, she told him on his podcast that there probably
wasn't a pop possibility that she'd have made it to the
Olympics, but if she stood stuck with it, she might have.
So in an alternate timeline, she might have been an Olympian for
rhythmic gymnastics. But then, at least on the
grassy, Mia made the cheer squad.
Yeah. With with those skills not to
skip a hat, Yeah. Did I ruin something?
No, I just realized for some reason I have nothing about
Degrassi. In what?
Nothing about Degrassi, are you? Kidding.
Can't really find too much about it, but I think that's why for
some reason I just didn't have it.
But in 2006, she began playing the role of Mia, as you know, on
Degrassi The Next Generation, and she was on the show for
three seasons. But so so she moved back to
Canada, to Toronto. How did she get into acting?
Did you read anything about that?
Like it seems like she's doing dance and gymnastics.
Is this just did she just audition or something?
Yeah, I think she just auditioned.
Is this her first acting role? This was, yeah, this was her
first acting role. It always felt to me like it was
kind of, I hate to say this, but easy for those Degrassi kids to
get on the show. Oh my God, it gets even easier,
you'll to see. Well, why do you say that?
No. Just seems like there was a lot
of parts on the show and like, I don't know there were.
I know. Seems like everyone who was on
it was like kind of an amateur. Didn't like had no experience.
It almost felt like it was like a local PBS show that like.
It did. I mean, that's good in a way
'cause it was supposed to be like real teens and it was real
teens. That was a good thing.
But yeah, you weren't getting like these incredible actors
necessary, no offense. I mean like.
It was it was popular, but it's to get on like the Disney
Channel here in the United States.
Like those kids had like been busting their ass for years,
like doing acting jobs. And it just kind of seems like
they went to like the local high schools and scouted real kids.
Yeah, yeah. Anyway, back to Nina.
Well, unlike Ian, I think her personality is a bit harder to
nail down because she doesn't reveal too much about herself
and doesn't take too many interviews.
She does occasionally do podcasts and stuff like that,
but she's very kind of secretive about herself and kind of keeps
her cards close to her chest. And I think that's why I had
trouble finding information about Degrassi because there
weren't many interviews about her and her time on Degrassi or
about how she got on Degrassi. And if there were, they were
probably completely scrubbed from the Internet and impossible
to find. What?
Why would they be scrubbed? Because like sites just are no
longer up anymore. Oh, I see, I see.
Yeah, they weren't like trying to hide anything.
Yeah, but she seems sporty and mindful and very practical and
again, private, friendly and ambitious, but again, just not
the most approachable in a sense.
I can see that, I believe that she is very private and keeps
her cards close because I feel like she's never been someone
that anyone could be annoyed with or anything, you know?
But she just doesn't share much about herself.
No, she doesn't. You can kind of just project
whatever you want onto her. So Nina moved to LA in January
of 2009 and this was after finishing her three season stint
on Degrassi and The Vampire Diaries was her very first
audition for ATV show pilot. In LA.
Yeah, in LA So she moved to LA because she wanted better job
opportunities than Canada could provide in terms of acting.
And this was the first audition. That's crazy.
That's like Tom Cruise, what we just talked about, started
acting and then right away just got good roles and was a star.
I feel like at that time to Degrassi was like a more popular
show with American teenagers, so it probably helps like at that
time like a Grimes also just got on 90210 on The CW.
So like you started to see those stars break out, like Drake
started to become popular. Yeah.
That's very true. So Nina would later say on a
podcast called XOXO in 2022 that at the time when she auditioned
for The Vampire Diaries and got the job, that she was actually
dating an actor. She didn't say who.
We don't know who this person is.
She was dating an actor who is being considered for the role of
Damon Salvatore, and they were supposedly going to choose him,
but then they ended up not in favor of choosing Ian
Somerhalder instead. What?
Yeah, so then she got cast as, you know, Elena and plenty of
other characters as well for the show.
And then it got awkward because he didn't get cast and so they
broke up. That would then be that would be
tough to be the ex-boyfriend and not only did you lose the part,
but you lost the girl. And then the.
Girl the girl gets with the guy that got the part.
Yeah, that's crazy. I guess that's things happen for
a reason. Yeah, I really wish I knew who
it was. I wonder.
Yeah, well, that's all I had about Nina before we get into
them as Nina and Ian, because the show's about to start
filming. So let's take a little break and
then we'll when we return, we'll get into the love story.
So the pilot of The Vampire Diaries was filmed from about
March to April of 2009 in Vancouver, Canada, but then the
rest of the season was filmed that summer in Georgia.
And I boiler alert. But for some reason, when I was
initially writing this script, I was thinking to myself that Nina
and Ian don't kiss in the first season because their characters
don't. So I was like, oh, like that
wouldn't be the reason why they would get together.
You know, like they wouldn't have to kiss for the show and
that would like spark any kind of romantic feelings or
anything. But they do actually, they do
kiss in the first season. I totally forgot because Nina,
yeah, she plays multiple characters and I always forget
that she does. So she plays Catherine, who was
Damon's ex-girlfriend. And they kiss many times
throughout the season in like flashbacks and stuff.
So you're telling me in the show because Ian plays Damon and
Damon is brothers with? What's his name with?
Stefan. OK, Damon is brothers with
Stefan and Stefan is the one who is with.
You know, doing. This character, yes.
So you're telling me that this guy had this love, this, I'm
guessing serious love, and then his brother gets with someone
that looks identical to her? No, I mean, you've you haven't
seen the show and this isn't something that like is revealed.
What do you know? They reveal this in the pilot,
so it's not too much of A spoiler, but Stefan and dated
Damon. Stefan and Damon dated somebody
in the 1800s who looked like Yeah, they both dated.
Who is Catherine, who's played by Nina de Brev?
Yeah, see, I don't like that she's identical.
Because then it feels like, OK, now you're only dating Elena
because she looks like your ex and you're kind of hung up on
her. That's like a whole thing.
They should have casted justice or something.
Someone who looks similar to her.
In the show, do they remark like, wow, she looks just like.
Yes, 'cause it's a, it's a whole.
It's a whole plot too. Similar though like no one in.
It's not like they didn't have an actress to play that
character and they were like, oh, Nina, you could just slap on
a wig and play this character or whatever.
So there's a reason. There's a reason for it, Yeah.
Wait, is there a reason why they look alike or is that
coincidental? No, there's a reason why they
look alike. Yeah, Is she really her?
Mel, you'll just have to watch the show.
Okay, you got. Me there, I know it's too.
Skeely for you, but is that her ancestor?
I am not saying. Okay.
Well anyway, so even though Elena and Damon don't kiss in
the first season, spoiler alert, Catherine and Damon do, so Nina
and Ian do kiss in the first season.
So they're getting hot and heavy.
But she maybe was still with, I mean she's acting as her job,
but was she maybe still with that boyfriend at this time or?
I think it was over when they filmed the pilot they were still
together but by the time they were filming the rest of the
season, no. OK so May 21st of 2009.
So this was while they were filming the first season.
The Vampire Diaries cast members were in attendance at The CW
Network's 2009 upfront, and Niana and Ian posed very
comfortably together on the red carpet.
I've heard of these upfronts before because of Penn Badgley's
show. I didn't even know what that
was. They have one every year.
It's like some event to what? Like showcase all the new.
Yeah, showcase all the new shows that are coming out, all the new
stars. It's kind of like if you know,
the Disney's D 23 or something like that, like basically just
saying like here's the lineup of CW and here's all the actors and
things like that. So they were on the red carpet
together and there's one picture in particular which I think is
so cute, and I'm going to send it to you, as you can see.
OK. So this is while they're filming
the first season. I see it.
He has a fedora on. I know so 2009 I feel like.
He has his arm around her, he's looking down at her, but she's
not looking at him. But she has like a very smug
look on her face, very like. Smiling at the cameras, like,
yeah, I have Ian. Yeah, they look like they're
dating here. I know.
And there's plenty of pictures also that also looked very
comfortable and intimate as well.
So this isn't, Yeah. So this isn't totally relevant,
but the show premiered on September 10th of that year,
2009, and garnered roughly 5 million views, close to 9
million if you include DVR. And it was the CWS biggest show
that season and it was like pretty much their biggest show
ever. Beating out America.
'S Next Top Model for #1. To that I just have to say,
maybe riding the coattails of Twilight a little.
People needed that fix, you know?
Yeah. I think the show definitely rode
the coattails, but to be fair, the books which I read, the
first book I had the second book.
The books were written in the 90s.
Yeah, but would the show have even come out at that time if it
weren't for Twilight? Maybe not.
Probably not. I can.
Admit they would have never dated and you know, like, you
know what how they say like Stephanie Meyer was inspired by
My Chemical Romance. Which is my right 911?
Was it inspired by 911 or wasn't?
Yeah, inspired by 911. Oh shit yeah.
So these people would not have dated if it wasn't, I hate to
say it, for 911. Well, IANS like whole life is
based on it because he also married a Twilight actress his
whole. Life is based on.
It his whole life is thanks to 911.
Well, anyway, on July 30th of that year, still 2009, while
talking to fearnet interviewer at CDCC or San Diego Comic Con
and says that his character is in a love triangle with quote UN
quote this beautiful young lady and points to Nina a couple feet
away. So definitely a little bit of
flirting. On September 10th, Entertainment
Weekly interviews a whole host of the cast from The Vampire
Diaries, and Nina is interviewed and she's asked how she gets
along with the rest of the cast. And she says, honestly, I can't
even put into the words. We all just get along so well.
We hang out more than you think we should because we want to.
We want to be part of each other's lives.
Paul and Ian are like my Big Brothers.
I know. I think that's such a thing that
people say. They're like, they're like my
brothers. They're like my sisters, you
know? But then they end up dating.
I know. So, so like a month later, on
October 17th, they arrived together, just them at the
Spikes TV Scream 2009 Awards, I don't know what that is, And
posed on the red carpet together very intimately and comfortably
like they did at the other event.
And then on the November 11th, Ian tweets this trailer's messy
and Nina tweets back. Haha.
Your trailer looks like a doctor's examination room
compared to mine. Exclamation point.
And then December 1st, Nina tweeted on set with my boys at
Ian Somerhalder and Paul. And Paul, Yeah, so why did he
not have Twitter or something? He doesn't have Twitter right
now. OK, so on December 2nd, in an
interview with Newsweek, Ian says that he is obsessed with
stray animals and saving them, and that he and his girlfriend
have saved and rescued several animals.
Oh, girlfriend. Yeah, and he would be like, Oh
my God. Oh cute.
Like get really excited because like oh girlfriend mentioned,
but actually this isn't Nina, this is another woman who is his
girlfriend at this point in time.
Well that kind of makes sense I guess because if they were
dating I feel like they it would be too soon to be adopting
animals together. I know, yeah.
So during this time, Ian has a girlfriend, and he mentions
later in that interview that he had been with her when he
received the call to audition for The Vampire Diaries.
So clearly not Nina because he hadn't known her at that point
in time. I'm just shocked because I
thought this was all very flirty seeming.
I know. He said that she was beautiful,
so I'm shocked. Yeah, so this is some woman.
I don't know who she is, if she's an actress or not, but her
name's Megan Auld and they've been together since at least
2007 and as of December 2nd, 2009, they're still together.
OK. And a couple days later, Nina
tweeted incredible work today at Ian Somerhalder.
Just another day at the office lol.
And then? Reading at him a lot.
I know this is even all of them, but these are like really flirty
ones. December 8th, Ian's birthday.
They're photographed and videoed landing in and walking around
LAX together. So they're the only ones there,
the only ones with the cast, the only ones of like their friend
group or whatever in LAX, and they're just walking around
together on his birthday, what I know.
And then that same day, Nina tweeted just landed at LAX with
Ian Somerhalder, who got paparazzi.
Ha ha, it's his birthday. Happy birthday, Sam.
That's so cute. I do have to wonder though what
his girlfriend would think of this.
Like I know is this girl. Tweeting at my boyfriend all the
time. What the heck?
I know. And then so in 2010, in
February, the UK magazine My Bliss interviewed the DVD cast,
The Vampire Diaries cast. And that's the first little clip
that I sent you guys. They look very closely.
Ian has his arms over the shoulders, both Paul and Nina,
but Nina and Ian's hands are claps together and they're very
close, very tucked into each other.
Hi, Bliss. It's Nina Dobrev here.
Ian Somerhalder, I don't fall by SO.
Am I the only one? You guys totally put me out to
drive all. Right, I'll do the accent then.
Thank you so much for watching. We really love you and your
support and continue to do so. And we'll continue making the
episodes. It's.
Not, not bad. Thank you, Peter.
I love you. They really were holding hands.
I know. Like I gotta say her English
accent is great. Yeah.
That was cute. She.
Grew up in Europe so maybe she travelled around to England a
bunch too. True.
Yeah. I mean, they looked, you're
right. They looked really cozy.
Both the guys looked so like Edward, including the eyebrows.
Paul, who plays Stefan, is definitely supposed to be like
the Edward type for sure. It was cute though.
A month later, on March 6th, Nina and Ian arrive at LAX
together and he kisses her on the cheek.
OK. And that same day while at Paley
Fest, Paley Fest, Ian says Nina looks amazing wearing court sets
on set. And when Paul asks in who is who
is the pretty one here, In points to Nina.
Oh, I would say I hope him and his girlfriend are done.
I would be. I know, I know so too.
Seriously, I know. But at the same convention, the
Paley Fest, she mentions again that he's like a brother to her.
What? I know.
And then on March 10th in an interview with 17 Magazine, Nina
said that she would never date one of her Co stars.
She said that dating a Co star can get sticky and that you'd
prefer not to date any actor in general.
She also said in the same interview that you recently
bought an Oddie convertible and that Ian went with her to the
dealership to get it. And it's kind of funny because
in this interview spread with her with 17 Magazine, there's a
pic of the two of them and the caption says they'd make a cute
couple. I don't feel like sometimes
those. Actors just say stuff and it's
not true click because obviously you were literally auditioning
for the show with your boyfriend at the time.
I know, true. I also kind of take some of her
words with a grain of salt because especially in these
earlier years, she tweets like, Oh my God, love Paul.
You know, they're like my brothers and stuff.
But later on, she said that her and Paul did not get along.
Really. Yeah.
So I don't know how truthful she's being in some of these
interviews, you know? She even though she hasn't done
that much acting, she seems like someone that's really media
trained somehow. I know maybe it's just from
degraded or something, I don't know.
She's very good at the publicity, it seems like.
Yeah, just saying. You know what you're supposed to
say. They begin filming the second
season in the spring and summer 2010, April 16th.
NIA tweets on set. Running scene right now with Ian
Somerhalder. Intense.
And then May 28th, Nina and Ian sit courtside together at a
basketball Lakers game in LA and they were supposedly whispering
it in each other's ears a lot and very cuddly.
But at this point they're still regarded as just friends and Co
stars, nothing more and nothing else.
Just brother and sister. Yep, we have to kiss a lot for
work. So now we're in 2011 and this is
now like 2 years since they first met in 2009 for starting
The Vampire Diaries. So January 23rd, Nina and Ian
are spotted again at LAX. Just them, no one else.
They're not kissing or anything like that.
But again, just together at LAX. That means they flew together.
In case anybody doesn't know, LAX is a airport in Los Angeles.
On March 7th, Nina is interviewed for Teen Vogue and
has this to say when she's asked about her relationship with Ian.
She said we expected the rumors, like if I wasn't dating Ian, I'd
be dating Paul. A lot of people who work
together end up dating, so it wouldn't be unusual, but I've
never dated anyone I've worked with.
OK. And then April 18th, Nina and
Ian were spotted spending the day together at Coachella Music
Festival with Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger, who were a couple
at the time. There's no PDA, but they lounged
together side by side on the same blanket and this really
fueled the dating rumors. Yeah, going to a music festival
together. I know.
And spending one-on-one with another couple, so it's like a
double date. I think they're dating here.
They I feel like they must be. Yeah, I mean, if you're
attracted to someone, you're both addicted to each other and
you work together, I would be surprised that two years would
go by before anything happens, you know?
I know so. So on April 30th, Nina and Ian
attend the White House Correspondents Dinner and after
party together. What?
Why were they invited? Why were they?
That just goes to show how popular The Vampire Diaries were
that they were invited to the White House Correspondents.
I knew you were going to say something like that because it's
The Vampire Diaries. Obviously.
Why Ella? Cultural.
Phenomenon. Maybe yes.
Maybe like Sasha and Malia watched it.
Maybe. It would be crazy if they could
just say like I want my favorite show I know.
I know. And then meet them.
So then a month later in May, they attend a World Ocean Day
celebration together. Again, just them, no one else.
A couple days later in Paris, Nina and Ian are papped walking
the streets, holding hands. They also reportedly went to the
Saint Germain de Press with their mothers and later dined at
a local bar together. But their mothers?
Yeah, their mothers and animales apparently.
And then June 6th and this is 2011 again.
I don't know what he's reacting to some picture but we can't see
anymore. But Ian tweeted Nina gets my
vote that dresses like skin tight wrapping paper round a
beautiful. Gift Wow.
At this point definitely hope that him and his girlfriend are
broken up. June 20th they walk the red
carpet together at the Much Music Video Awards.
When asked by reporters which act Ian was most looking forward
to seeing, Ian cheekily replied. Who am I most succeeded to see
tonight? Nina de Brev it.
Wasn't the question like which act he.
Wanted to, yeah. It was what act?
And then he was like, well, I want to see Nona Brev.
Yeah, what's her act? Just showing up and being on the
carpet, apparently. That's cute, but.
It does kind of feel like they're playing into it, though.
I don't know if they're getting, you know, pressure from the
studio or like their publicists are saying, you know, like,
people would really like to see you guys together.
But like, these are kind of unnecessary comments if you are
asked. Like, you don't need to like be
cheeky with the reporters. I know.
And that is something that has come up because so many CW
actors have dated their Co stars.
So some people do think, I know Troy from Beyond the Blinds
thinks that like potentially the network is setting these people
up and like having them pretend in favor of the TV show and like
getting publicity for the shows and for the network.
That's not something that like I know for certain is happening.
It could be, I don't know, but it definitely is something that
happens a lot. I mean, we did an episode about
Penn Badgley and Blake Lively. That's definitely one of those
CW couples. I don't know.
I want to think it's real. I know, maybe it's just like
encouraged. We know.
I don't know. Yeah, we don't know.
But again, they're on very romantic shows with very
attractive people. I mean, it seems like something
might happen. Well, I guess let's let's keep
seeing what happens. OK, well in July, it's more
real. Well, in July, supposedly, while
Comic Con and Nina were seen at the Maxim FX and Fox
Entertainment party, where reporters said that they
supposedly couldn't keep their hands off of each other and that
they were inseparable. And then I couldn't find the
exact date, but some point in September 2011, Ian was
interviewed by Us Weekly where he said there were a million
things he loved about Nina. He said she truly enjoys life,
her desire to experience and appreciate everything around her
and chuckle and enjoy it. She's great.
When you're really close to someone, they can make fun of
you a lot and get away with it. But you sort, but they sort of
poke you in all of the places. They sort of poke you in all the
places. I guess so, but it doesn't say
in all all the right places and all the places it all makes
sense because they know you so well and it really pisses you
off. But it forces you to sort of be
introspective and ask yourself, wow, is that really how people
see me? Apparently so that kind of got
away from her, but seems like he was saying that she's really
close to him. I.
Get what he means? So are they officially dating at
this point? I mean they haven't said so but
it seems like they are. In the late summer of 2011 they
start filming season 3 of The Vampire Diaries and this is when
I guess spoiler alert but they have way more like kissing and
making out see. And so that's got to do
something. October 29th, Nina and Ian
attend Ian's foundation and power esque event.
She was dressed as Hermione Granger and he was dressed as
Captain Planet because it was like a Halloween themed event.
So perfect, no couples costume but they went together like all
the rest of the cast were there but they were the only ones that
were like posing together. On December 8th, which is his
birthday, Nina tweeted. Happy birthday to my favorite
vampire. It's 1111 and your birthday.
Make a wish. Well yeah, it's definitely not
just something you do for a Co worker.
So it's like APR range. Relationship.
Yeah, yeah, something like that, but who knows?
So it's now 2012, three years since The Vampire Diaries
started, and they were cast for it.
So beginning of the year there were rumors that they were
engaged again. They're not even confirmed, but
people believe that they're engaged, or at least people
believe that there's a rumor going around that Ian popped the
question but that Nina rejected it.
What I know and Ninas publicist actually responded by saying
that there was no proposal and that if there had been 1, Nina
would be wearing a ring. Where?
Did this come from? I don't know this.
Is this it just started being a rumor apparently that they were
engaged or that Ian at least proposed Nina, who was only 23
at the time, and Ian who was 323332?
Sorry, I didn't do the math. So Nina was asked about the
rumors by Access Hollywood at the People's Choice Award on
January 11th. And she said that.
I mean, that's not my style. I'm really young.
It's not like back in the day when you would get married and
have children at 18. I'm a career woman and a young,
very driven woman, and I've got a lot I have to accomplish
before I settle down and have kids or do any of that again.
She's only 23, so it makes sense.
Yeah, sounds like she really feels that way.
So January 11th, a couple days later, Ian tweeted,
Congratulations, Nina, you won. I think this is from the
People's Choice Award, which is where she had that interview.
He said people do like you smiling emoji.
You rock, babe. Truly.
So he called her babe. Yeah, that seems pretty damning,
honestly. This is the moment I feel like
this is the My boyfriend is English, you know?
Twilight ref I know for real. Or that she's back in LA.
That's Robson reference if you know.
Babe. Yeah, What?
I know. So February 27th, Nina and Ian
arrive at Elton John's Academy Awards viewing party together
and they were photographed with their arms around each other and
looked very cozy. That must be such a great party.
I know. I mean, our parties are awesome,
but they're Oscar parties. But I know that's like a party
that you want to go to. So also in February, Nina was on
the cover of Nylon magazine. Kelly, your favorite?
I have that. I have that.
One you do. Yeah, I have like every single
one since it's like 2011. I should have asked you because
I had to read this article on like with the Wayback Machine.
Yeah, you should have asked. Me, because this is like
February 2012 and they just didn't have it anymore.
So I had to I had to use the Wayback Machine for it.
But anyway, so this is in the article of the Nylon magazine by
Michael Wood. So it says.
On the subject of Somerhalder, de Brev stiffens slightly when I
bring up the September Us Weekly article that appeared to quote
the two actors confirming the relationship.
The headline Ian Somerhalder and Nina de Brev, why we love each
other. And Nina says we haven't told
anyone anything. I remember that interview.
They asked us what do you love about your Co stars?
And we said like 10 different things about every single person
on the show. But they chose what they want to
write about and it's fine. People have that fascination.
I can't say I'm not interested in Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
and their families, but something you fight really hard
to preserve and keep private. I.
Don't know what to think of that.
Yeah, well, don't worry because in April, the pair attended a
couple philanthropic events together, as well as Coachella
again, where they were spotted kissing.
Yeah. So like, they're definitely
together kissing. In May, they were also perhaps
numerous times walking hand in hand on the streets of New York
City. OK, this is also.
Yeah. This is also around the same
time that Season 4 of The Vampire Diaries is filming, and
it's believed that they are living together in the same
house in Atlanta, GA. Wow, so it's serious.
I know. And in the September issue of
Canada's fashion magazine, Nina's asked again about the
engagement rumors and she said eventually I'm going to marry
and have a family, but not anytime soon.
I'm not going to pull a Miley. OK.
Excuse me, not necessary. Why is she throwing Miley under
the bus? Poor Miley.
I know especially since like Miley just got like engaged
that's like it song. She like had kids really young
or anything. Gosh, she was such a punching
bag at that time. That's very true.
This was I think the same year that We Can't Stop came out.
I think 2012, I don't know. Crazy time.
Yeah, well listen to the Miley and Liam episode.
Well anyway, September 4th Nina is on the cover of 17 Magazine
again and she references the last time she was on.
She says the first time I was on the cover of 17 the cover line
said Nina why she won't date any of her Co stars and then cut to
two years later. It's funny that I said that but
you know what? It was honestly what I believed
at the time. I didn't want to be dating any
one of my Co stars. My goal in the show was to be
professional, but sometimes you can't help who you have a
connection with and you can only fight it for so long, which I
did for a really, really long time.
Yeah, I mean, the heart wants what the heart wants.
She also said. I think stuff like that.
Seems arbitrary like you know what rule about it like to say
like oh I don't date Co workers whatever.
But if you really are into someone, I say just go for it.
Yeah, because also, I mean, I guess like, you know, you could
date someone else and move on and not care, but if you have
that tension and attraction, that's going to be there
regardless and that almost might be more distracting.
Yeah, it could just go on for years.
I know. And what if that's the person
you're supposed to be with? And then it builds and builds
and then suddenly it's like, OK, this is way more intense than I
than it ever even should have been.
I know. Then you're.
Both engaged to other people and.
I know. It just got way out of hand.
It could get super messy. Well anyway, in the same article
she said I think people should be with a person who makes them
smile. The minute you're not smiling
anymore, you shouldn't be in a relationship.
That's what you figure out by having good or bad experiences
with boyfriends and finding out what qualities you like and
don't like in a person. It's part of growing up and
learning. You should always be with the
people who make you feel happiest.
So that's I don't. Know about that?
Really. I just think that's a little
unrealistic to think like once you're not smiling anymore, it
should be over. Like it reminds me, I'm gonna
have. Like ups and downs.
I know it reminds me of Olivia Wilde saying like when your
pussy dies or something. That's what I mean, exit the
relationship or something. Oh yeah.
I forgot about that. If you never smile like you
never smile, you never, never. Smile.
Yeah, maybe then it's over, but you're gonna have bad days.
Even, yeah, if you have like a period of not smiling.
I mean, I think you can still try to work on it.
I don't know. Like I'm sure Barack Obama
didn't make Michelle smile for all those years. 10 years.
It's definitely an idealistic thing to say.
It's sweet, it's a nice, it's a nice sentiment.
But yeah, maybe not the most realistic, but at least from
that she's. In the high, she's happy.
You can always gather that Ian at that point in time is making
her feel happy and smiley, and that's good.
Yeah. Well anyway, around this time
Ian officiated his friend's wedding and Nina tweeted at Ian
Somerhalder officiated the wedding and did a killer job.
May I add good job Minister Somerhalder Winky face.
And supposedly they spent Thanksgiving together in
Louisiana with his family. And then December 5th they were
spotted Christmas tea, Christmas tree shopping together.
It's cute. And then it was reported that
they spent Christmas with each other's families before being
photographed celebrating New Year's together in Shanghai,
China. What?
And while on vacation, Nina tweeted.
I'm getting married. Exclamation point.
Exclamation point with an attached picture of herself
feeding a baby tiger. She also tweeted He's orange and
soft and we'll be together forever.
Match made in heaven. I'm in heaven.
And then Ian responded. Wait, what the fuck?
Wait, I kind of feel like I feel like that's deliberate for
headlines because she tweets I'm getting married and then next
thing you know, there's going to be a click fake art article that
says Nina de Brev says she's getting married.
Well, to be fair, the tweet was attached with a photo of her and
the tiger, but still. I know, but like like it's so
easy. That's just.
Like, no, I get what you mean. You never know.
Yeah. I almost fell for it.
I know that's why I kind of, I got stretched it out a little
bit by doing the exclamation point.
Exclamation point. So it's now 2013 and January
9th, Ian tweeted. Happy birthday, beautiful.
And there wasn't much news regarding Ian Nina in the
beginning of this year. But in March they spent Easter
together in Toronto with Nina's family.
And while in Canada, they also visited a Vampire Diaries fan
who was sick in the hospital together.
That's nice. I know.
Easter. Easter seems pretty real to me.
I know, like Easter. Easter is intimate like
Halloween. Halloween you could spend with
anybody. Yeah.
Years. Yeah, the.
Easter. That's serious, I know.
April 11th both rushed to the Animal Hospital to care for
Nina's sick cat, Moki, and some sites report that they share the
cat, and maybe they do, but Moki for the most part seems to
originally have been Nina's was. Moki, OK.
Yeah, it seems like they were OK.
I think they just need to have like minor surgery and Ian even
post a picture of him and OK at the hospital together.
But then on May 9th, after 3:00-ish years together, it's
officially reported that they split up.
What for good? Yeah.
That just came out of nowhere. I thought we were building.
I thought we were escalating to. More I know.
I feel like we just learned that they were.
Out of nowhere. The fans.
Hey guys, all those Vampire fans, do they have a ship name?
The character's ship name is Delana.
I think the, I think the actors, it's like neon.
Doesn't ring up the roll out the tongue, but all the neon fans
like guys, we feel you. That must.
I'm so sorry, I know. You guys were just at the at the
hospital with the cat. What's going on?
I know. Terrible news.
I wonder too. I wonder if they were already
having stressors and bad days and then this cat thing happened
and just feels like oh everything's going to shit.
I know you know what. I mean, and then they still
there's work together. I know.
Well, there's still a little bit more.
So do they get back together? I guess we'll see you.
Already I said for good and you said yes.
OK, well, you whatever. OK, what happens next?
What happens next? Around the same time, Ian
tweeted a thought for today. People change and forget to tell
each other. Lena Hellman, playwright 19 O 5
to 1984. And then he deleted the tweet.
He he quoted a Nina. What was the playwright's name?
Lillian Hellman. Oh, I thought you said Nina's.
Maybe, I said, Nina, I'm sorry. It's Lillian.
I have Nina's name on my brain. Yeah, it's Lillian.
OK, but still shady. Yeah, I know.
That's a. Sub Tweet.
Mel, you taught me. You taught me what a sub tweet
is like in the day. Yeah.
Yeah, I guess. You also taught me what Mel.
You also taught me what a selfie is.
Whoa. That's crazy.
This was a long time ago, guys. Not like recently because it was
like middle school. Yeah, we don't want to use
subtweet that linko anymore. I know, but it it was when you
tweet about someone else without, you know, saying who it
is, but subliminally yes. Well, yeah.
Usually in a negative way. It was always in a negative way,
Yeah. Wow, OK.
Well, anyway, a couple days later, both of them presented on
stage together at The CW Networks 2013 Uprunts.
And apparently there's no awkwardness and the awkwardness
and they appeared very professional and cordial.
So July 10th, a little bit later, about two months after
they officially broke up, quote UN quote, they began filming the
5th season of The Vampire Diaries.
And although the season was reportedly written back in April
of that year year, which was about a month before the news
broke that they broke up, the season keeps Nina and Ian's
characters apart for a good amount of the season.
So it's almost very lucky in a way for them it kind of worked
out because spoiler alert. Like Nina's character goes away
to college and they're just kept away from each other for various
circumstances, so they don't really have to think.
That is a coincidence. I don't know, it seems like
almost too big of a coincidence, but they do have to still
occasionally act as a as a couple and like kiss and stuff.
But it is very much a coincidence that for a large
amount of the season they don't have to share scenes together.
Interesting. Yeah, they still have the same
amount of chemistry I'd say. I don't think I really noticed a
drop in chemistry in season 5 though.
That's good they kept it professional.
Yeah, and supposedly when filming began, Ian tweeted
wrapped. Crazy to be back on these stages
in Georgia. Wow, so many memories here.
Season 5. This show has lasted more than
most mem marriages. And then he deleted the.
Then he deleted it. Why?
I don't know, I guess because like, the show lasted longer
than his relationship with Nina, so it's like kind of a dig at
that. I don't know.
Well anyway, in August, Nina seems to support or confirm the
rumor that they broke up because she tells Cosmopolitan that her
new found friendship with Julianne Ho or Huff, Julianne
Huff is built on more than just their shared trauma of going
through recent breakups. Julianne Huff and Ryan Seacrest
had recently broken up. Yeah, that was a crazy couple.
I honestly forgot that they dated, but in September 9th, Ian
sparked speculation that they may have gone back together.
He snapped a picture of Nina on the cover of the Affirmations
Cosmo and he captions it in a store this morning.
Who do I see? The one and the only Nina de
Brev. These things are almost gone, so
if you haven't gotten this magazine off the shelf, get one.
One word. Stunning.
Congrats Nina XO, Ian and Nina responds back.
Thank you Smoldy. Weird.
Yeah. Could just be him being like a
clingy ex recent ex-boyfriend or maybe they are still somewhat
seeing each other. I don't know.
In November there are rumors that Ian and Nina have been
casually hooking up after the breakup and are most likely to
get back together, but at the same time, there's rumors that
Nina and Derek Hough are dating. But again, there's no real
weight or water to any of these rumors.
On December 9th, Nina tweeted. Happy birthday Smoldy, Hope we
had a beautiful day filled with smiles and gluten free cake, but
not too much cake. We're on The CW.
And then like the tongue out emoji.
Oh. My gosh.
And then it's 2014 and in January, Nina and Ian won
favorite on Screen Chemistry and accepted the award together.
And they have an acceptance speech, which is what I sent to
you. It's #2.
OK. And is this the what?
What award show is this? I believe it's at the People's
Choice Awards. And.
Still, still hot and the People's Choice for favorite on
screen chemistry is Ian Somerhandler and Nina Bill.
Brown, Ian. Somerhalder also wins favorite
sci-fi. TV actor.
Wow. Thank you.
Wow this is crazy. You believe this is almost 5?
Years in the making. Right.
Yeah. But, you know, I think what's
crazier though, Ian, is that at the beginning of the show.
Elena actually hated Damon. You're hooking up with my
brother. Well, you killed my brother.
Then eventually she fell in love with me.
And then we started dating on the show we.
Started dating in real life. And then we broke up in real
life. And yet our characters are still
dating on the show. It's a good thing it's not.
Awkward. Well, it's.
A good thing we have chemistry. Thank you guys so much.
Oh my God, I can't believe he kissed her on the cheek.
I know I was going to remark on that.
So like after the speech, he kisses her on the cheek.
I can't believe they even acknowledged dating and that
they presented together. They must be like pretty chill
with. Each other.
I know, isn't that kind of crazy too chill?
What do you guys like? What's in the water where you
are cuz? I don't know what to make of
that. I know, right?
They planned that ahead of time, but that doesn't really mean
anything I guess. That's why people think like,
maybe they're like not together, but it's still like a maybe type
of thing. That like limbo period where
you're kind of in denial and you're like, yeah, yeah, You're
like able to make jokes about it 'cause you're like, we might get
back together. You're not seeing anybody else
at the moment. So you can be flirty, but then
it's confusing. Yeah.
So I mean, it kind of confirmed that they broke up, at least
people speculate that's because Ian wanted to settle down and
get married and have kids, but she wasn't ready, which kind of
makes sense because at the time he was 36 and she was only 25.
So that kind of age difference probably really was brought into
the light because he was getting older, but she was still pretty
young actively. Yeah, 36, I can believe it.
Like, we've heard that excuse a couple times in the show and
sometimes I don't really believe it, especially when they're
like. 20. Eight or something and I'm like,
I doubt it, but 36, yeah, I could see.
And, and that's a significant at that point, it's just so
different like 36 like OK, almost 40 in a couple years and
but 25 like if you're not ready, like you might not be ready for
like 10 more years. So I.
Know and then he's like kind of a wild I know and then he's at
an in his late 40s by that point and that's kind of old to be
starting to have kids. Yeah, makes sense.
But anyway, in February, on February 11th, Nina was spotted
getting cozy with Liam Hemsworth at a bar.
Supposedly. What?
I know Liam Hemsworth and he was just, she was just digging at
Miley a little bit ago too. Yeah, what's that about?
I think I do. Remember that?
I remember that from our Miley and Liam episode.
In May they were at Pally Fest together or Paley Fest together
for Vampire Diaries panel Nina and Ian, and they were
supposedly very friendly and there wasn't really any
awkwardness. And probably because of this,
around this time there were reports that they were going to
get back together. But then in June, Nina was
spotted making out with James Marsden in a bar in New Orleans.
Hey, good for her. Like, you know.
She came. She came to Hollywood from
Toronto, and then she gets in this relationship right away.
Now she's like, yeah, I can like, you know, meet these
Hollywood guys and like, like. I mean, it's James Morrison.
I know. I can't get upset about that.
I know there were also reports that she was potentially seeing
Muse member Dominic Howard also. Oh.
And then around this time, also towards the tail end of June,
Ian was spotted for the first time with Nikki Reed.
MMM, who is? Slash was maybe supposedly a
friend of Nina's. The couple was seen jogging
together in California before heading to a farmers market, and
they looked very couply. Oh they they love farmers
markets, I bet. I know that seems so them.
But I OK, so in our previous podcast another by Twilight, we
did an episode about Nikki Reed and I remember thinking that
like her and Nina were these great friends, but like we
haven't even heard of her. Like, were they really good
friends? Kind of overblown.
I think that's totally overblown because I could, I looked into
it and I couldn't find like any evidence that they were friends.
I feel like maybe they probably like took a picture like once or
twice at some event or something and maybe like we're friendly
because like Twilight slash Vampire Diaries, they probably
overlapped a little bit, but I don't think they were really
friends at all. Yeah, and it's not like they
would have had grown up together.
I feel like some of these celebrities, it's like we were
in the 3rd grade class together. They live in LA and like they
all just kind of know each other.
But like, you know, it was in Bulgaria and Toronto.
Doesn't seem like they have so many mutuals too.
I definitely think that was overblown completely.
OK, setting the record straight, yeah.
But after reports got out that he might be with Nikki, Ian
posted to Instagram. He said, everyone, I hate to
break it to you, but you have zero clue what really goes on in
other people's lives. It does you or anyone else any
good at all to protect negative energy out there.
There's no harm here. I ask you to back off with your
negativity, focus that energy elsewhere in a positive manner,
and let people live their lives. It's only fair.
Thank you and goodnight. And then he deleted the post
soon. After of course.
It's just making we laugh because we're doing the complete
opposite. I know.
I mean, Nina says she gets it so.
No, but I think people must have been, he's like, back off.
People must have been like hating in the comments and
getting really upset, right? Yeah, definitely.
They were definitely receiving a lot of a lot of hate.
So I can understand. Like, we're not hating.
We're not haters, you know. No, no, no, no.
So he's not talking to us. We're not coming.
In business, but yeah, but yeah. But this is that he hasn't
deleted the post, so technically he never said any of that.
He's frequently tweeting and then deleting.
I know. He gets nervous.
I guess so maybe he doesn't have that media training that Nina
has. So anyway, so Nikki and Ian were
spotted in June and in July filming begins for season 6 of
The Vampire Diaries. And I don't know when the season
was written but it seems heavily influenced by the real life
breakup of Nina and Ian. And I mean, maybe it was other
reasons, but for the majority of the season Nina and Ian's
characters are kept nearly completely apart for the whole
season. I'd be.
Pissed if I was a fan of the show.
I know. And even like OK, I don't want
to be, I don't want to spoil anything, but Nina and Ian's
characters get together in like season 4 or something.
And I texted my friend who loves the show and watches it and I'm
like Oh my God, they just got together.
I can't wait for more Elena and Damon.
And she was like Oh my God, just wait.
Because then obviously Nina and Ian broke up.
So then their characters were like hardly together afterwards.
No. I know.
But. What I will say is that it's
pretty seamless and it actually does work well.
Like it makes sense why their characters wouldn't be together.
I think they creatively worked around the breakup, I think.
Well, that's gonna say that's disappointing.
I know it's disappointing, and in season 6 though, you can kind
of tell the chemistry is a little different.
This is not turning anyone off from watching The Vampire
Diaries. I love it.
I even love season 6. It's one of my favorite seasons
of the show. But Nina and Ian's chemistry is
very different in season 6 and I will say that some of their
scenes are a little awkward. It's not the same as the
previous seasons, but I think towards the end of the season
when their characters do have a couple more scenes together
because it's later in the season, maybe they had a couple
more months to like work together and become more
comfortable. I think their chemistry does
feel back to how it had been in previous seasons.
I feel like I might have been skipping ahead, but I remember
her leaving the show. Wait one SEC, I need to I need
to go to the bathroom real quick.
OK. Sorry, one second.
I'll go too. I'll go too.
Knock, that was. Abrupt.
It's an emergency. OK, back back to the episode.
I remember her leaving the show. Yeah, well, we're not at that
just yet. OK, OK.
So in August, Nina told HuffPost Live.
It's funny because I try not to read any of that kind of stuff,
but when you start getting text messages from your friends from
a link or something and they're like, Oh my God, are you really
dating this person? I'll be like, I talked to him
last night for a second or yeah, I saw him at this party and all
of a sudden you're dating somebody.
Especially after Comic Con. Apparently I was dating like 10
people. I had a busy weekend.
Honestly, I need to get a steady boyfriend so that people can
stop speculating. Sounds kind of annoying, but
also sounds fun. So in October, and keep in mind
Nikki and Ian were first spotted in June.
By October, they're openly dating, lots of PDA and
Instagram pics and they even adopt A horse together.
And there's rumors that Nina isn't OK with the new couple and
that she thinks that Ian is being very insensitive with his
flaunting of it. It's reported that The Vampire
Diaries producers banned Nikki from coming to stat, but who
knows if that's really true. A source told Hollywood Life
that this is exactly why producers actually tried to
forbid Nina for and Ian from dating.
They're worried something like this would happen.
Ian and Nina tried to hide the relationship for so long because
they're very strictly forbidden from that, but obviously they
did go there. Exactly what they promised
wouldn't happen has happened, and it's getting in the way of
their work. So that is 2015 and it's January
18th and it's announced that Ian and Nikki are engaged after
roughly 6 months of dating. Wow, that's kind of Nikki's MO
because she also got engaged to her first husband, Paul McDonald
after like three months. Oh my God.
Even less. And some say sources say that
Nina is fine with the news, but others say the opposite.
A lot of people speculate that Nina gave Ian the cold shoulder
after engagement rumors. We can't really say for sure.
But years later, one of their Co stars, Claire Holt, went on
record and said that they are very professional and never
weird with one another during the filming of the last seasons.
And it seems like that could be true.
It seems like they're very amicable.
Nobody has said otherwise really.
It's just mostly. I know it must, especially since
it was only six months, you know?
Yeah, I mean, he's free to do whatever he wants and like,
obviously, but it's just tough that they have to see each other
at work. Usually if your ex gets engaged,
you just kind of like see a post online or something and then
you're like, but to have to like witness that and people probably
saying Congrats to him and all that, like that's, that must
sting. I know especially if maybe her
and Nikki were friends. I mean, we don't have any
evidence that says there were, but people seem to think that
they were. So who knows?
In the beginning of April and this so this was a couple months
after Ian and Nikki got engaged, Nina announced that the sixth
season will be her last season and she won't be on the show
anymore. And she said, I always knew I
wanted Elena's story to be a sixth season adventure.
And within those six years, I got the journey of a lifetime.
Coincidence. Especially since the sixth
season has already wrapped, so it seems like she's announcing
this after the season is already filmed.
You would think that maybe this would be an announcement before
the season was filmed, you know? Wait a SEC, so they don't get to
film like a resolution to her character?
I think they still have like a couple episodes left to do, but
for the most part the whole season is mostly filmed.
Oh, so she announced it after it had wrapped?
Yeah, I think there's no maybe she just wanted to do something
left to do. Yeah, OK, OK.
Yeah, but. Just interesting.
Yeah. Especially since like come out
earlier saying this, you know? Yeah, like they seemed
friendlier before, but now that he's really moved on, it's hard.
But honestly smart. Like those CW shows, once they
get to season 7 you don't want to be it on on it anymore
anyway. Yeah, and her contract had only
been for six seasons anyway, so it wasn't like she was breaking
her contract. Like it'd come to its kind of
natural conclusion. It just kind of worked at kind
of the right time that that just also so happened to be the time
when her ex was engaged. Yeah.
So anyway, April 10th e-news posts an article titled An Open
Letter to anyone who thinks Nina de Brev left The Vampire Diaries
because of a breakup and Ian repost the article to his
Twitter with the caption Way to go at EO Online.
This is a very informed article about The Vampire Diaries.
Thank you. Check this out everyone.
Oh my gosh, open letters were all the rage at that time.
So true an. Open letter to my roommate's
mom. Yeah.
It was like anyone you could think of.
So I said so. It was to anyone who thinks, to
anyone who thinks the season, what it what was it?
It was an open letter to anyone who thinks Nina de Brev left The
Vampire Diaries because of a breakup.
So specific. I know.
So I think they still have like 1 episode or so left to do.
So on April 13th, Nina posted Twitter behind the scenes
shooting a Damon and Elena scene with Somerhalder AKA at Ian
Somerhalder with a photo of them.
And then a couple days later Nina posted Twitter hashtag FBF.
Is that flashback Friday? Yeah, I've forgotten all about
all those acronyms they used to have on Instagram.
Flashback Friday to last week with Ian Somerhalder shooting
our final Damian Elena scene and accompanied with a picture of
two Polaroids of Nina and Ian pose together.
And then a couple days later after that.
After 10 months of dating and four months of being engaged,
Eid and Nikki get married in Malibu, CA.
It's. Official.
Yep, official. It's very fast and very
unexpected, apparently even to the guests.
According to Nikki, they invited their guests to what they
thought would be a house warming party.
It was very low key with only their closest family and friends
in attendance. Nina was not invited, but Nina
was apparently invited, but she was not in attendance.
Yeah, I would not want to go. And also Nikki, if I was Nikki,
I would not want his ex there at the wedding.
That's crazy. I know.
Maybe it was just a polite invitation.
Maybe everybody kind of knew. I know like, maybe like
everybody from the cast was invited and be awkward if she
was the only one that wasn't true.
And then May 15th, about a month or so later, Nina post a photo
to Twitter of her and Ian covered cake from when they
filmed their last scene together.
Just her and Ian. Just her and Ian.
Weird, I know, kind of holding on to him a little bit.
Nita commented on Ian's wedding for the first time.
She was asked by the Huffington Post.
She said. When I heard about the wedding,
I thought it was beautiful. They look happy and I am happy.
So I don't see why there should be a problem with that.
The dramas in the media, it's not with us.
But of course we're on a teen drama show.
Everyone's going to look for drama.
If there's no drama, there's nothing to write about.
I just ignore it. We didn't break up because
anything bad happened or because there wasn't love or friendship.
I love him and the friendship is still strong and I think he's
great and I care about him, and that didn't change.
Yes, we're professional and that's fine.
We were friends long before we dated and we still are.
Well, then Nina was off the show.
So in 2016, there really wasn't anything to remark about them
but that. In 2017, in January, Nina
revealed that she would return for The Vampire Diaries season 8
finale, which was also this the series finale.
And on February 6th, she saw her scene for the finale.
She's only in it for about a minute, Max, what's of the
finale? But the time that she's in it,
no offense to anybody, I don't want to spoil too much, but she
and Ian have to act like a couple and they have to like,
kiss so. So is it just like a flash
forward, like they end up together?
Yeah. That's kind of disappointing,
though. I feel like Gossip Girl did the
same thing with, yeah, Serena and Dan ending up together.
It's like, OK, but we haven't seen any build up to this now.
Like it's like not that satisfying.
It's uncanny how similar it is to Dan and Serena.
That's actually dated and they broke up and then they were not
together in any scenes for a while and then in the last
episode they just randomly give back.
Again, I don't want to spoil, but it's not like they were
like, not together. Nina's character was in a coma
for the last couple of years, so it wasn't like they're broken
up. She was just like in a coma.
Oh. My goodness.
That must have been really bad at that point.
Again, I like season 6 for. It.
I like season 6, all the seasons going up to season 6.
Season 7 and season 8 definitely are not that great, but by the
time you get to season 7 you're like, well, I'm almost done with
the show so I might as well keep going with it, you know?
Yeah, especially since season 8 it's only like half the regular
amount of episodes, so you can knock that out pretty easily.
I felt that way rewatching Gossip Girl.
Like the later seasons. I was like, yeah, it's bad, but
it's not that bad. Like yeah, I'm still having fun.
So February 7th, the day after Nina Shaw her last or her last
scene for the final episode, Nikki posts a photo of herself,
Ian, and Nina together with a long and lengthy caption.
And I'm only going to read a portion of it.
So, she wrote. For the last few years, we
thought addressing any baseless rumors with silence was the best
way. Besides, who wants to respond to
made-up stories about friends, backstabbing friends, cheating
exes, or cast members exiting shows on lowbrow websites like
Hollywood Life that are just perpetuating trends that precede
us? Yuck.
I now see that silence was taken as an opportunity.
Fill in the blanks with even more falsities and choose your
stories. And we, yes, we believe we have
a more responsibility to young girls, girls to end the
narrative. Because at the end of all of
this, those young girls are the ones who lose their passion and
endless devotion for ATV show is being taken advantage, replaced
with feelings of anger through divisive techniques.
And even worse, their minds are being shaped and molded as their
views of themselves and other girls and what those dynamics
should look like are being formed.
So here's to putting and end all those fake stories on of onset
jealousy, betrayal, made-up, friendships lost, and women
hating women. Because at the end of the day,
that's what this is all about. Teaching girls that you have to
hate other girls only breeds a generation of women who believe
you have to hate other women. Wow, that's.
A lot. It's there's even more, but I
only read a small portion of it. I.
Don't know if she would. Say all that.
I know. And then comparatively on the
same day, Nina also post a photo of the three to them with the
caption. Can't believe how time flies.
Farewell dinner with the team, Summer read.
So good catching up with these goofballs.
All love and that's it. Hers is like so go with the
flow, happy. Yeah, I know.
Maybe Nikki was getting a lot of hate for a lot like a long time
from Vampire Diaries people. So like, she was over.
Overcompensating. Overcompensating, but like
thinking that this mattered more than it does.
She's like fanning the flames a bit with this.
Yeah, yeah. And I don't know, I feel like
she's reading too much into it and like making it about
something that it's not. It's normal for there to be
awkwardness between an ex and a current partner.
Like it's like normal for those people to not maybe want to be
in the same room. And then that's just like the
way it is. It's not women hating women.
It's just like, why would you want to hang out with your ex's
new significant other unless you were totally over it?
But even then, like, we're all human, you're going to have some
weird feelings about it. Like, don't make people feel
like they're like crazy for projecting, you know, kind of
realistic expectations onto something.
Especially if people thought that her and Nina were friends,
it's not of the realm of possibility that people would
think it's weird that you're dating your supposed friends ex.
Yeah. I mean, yeah, I feel for her.
People were saying horrible things to her.
That sucks, but I get what you're saying.
Like, it it there's just two separate things going on here,
like the fans and then their relationship.
And yeah, yeah, I don't think you should make people think
like it's just the patriarchy that makes girls not be friends
with their boyfriends ex or something.
Like, I don't know. I I think I think there are real
reasons for that. Yeah, I feel like at that time
period, people were doing like, I hate to say a little too much
with the women hating women, blah, blah, blah.
It's like, OK, like there are like, there are some, like,
valid things that you can criticize people for.
We don't have to all be friends. Yeah.
I mean, the message is sweet overall and like, she seems
concerned about Young girls getting swept up in this hate or
whatever. And yeah, but I I agree it's a
bit. Much maybe she was just like, I
mean, not to offend Nikki or anything, maybe she's just
really hormonal or something because a month later she gave
birth to their first daughter or their first child daughter named
Bodie Soleil. I don't know if that's I think
she's on her period. Imagine if I I know.
I was going to. I was going to be like.
Cut that out. Maybe she's just hormonal, like
she's just on her period. I mean, I really, I would
really. It's just so funny the contrast
between hers and Nina's post. You know I know like Nina
literally wrote like 2 sentences and that's it.
Yeah, she keeps her cards close. Yeah.
But I feel like Nikki Reed is the type.
I mean, I really like, I do really like Nikki Reed, but she
is the type of person that would be like, no, I'm not friends
with my cast mates, you know? Yeah.
Whereas Nina would be like, we're all best friends.
Well, on January 17th, Nina was on Watch What Happens Live and
This Is 2019 Now with Andy Cohen and is asked by a caller if she
thinks it's weird that she's friends with Ian and Nina
considering her history with Ian, and this is her response.
Hey Andy, I love the show. I have a question for Nina and
my question is Nina. You used to say Ian.
And now that he's married, is it?
Weird that you're. Friends with both him and his
wife, I. Don't think that's weird at all.
I think that's great. It's awesome.
Why? Why can't everyone be friends?
I think that they have a beautiful baby and they are
happy and so am I and let's. What's bad about that?
I don't. Have any problem?
With that peace and love man. And hair dye.
Next call caller. What's your name and from where
you called? Dude that was awkward.
I know, a little awkward, but I mean, they say they're fine, so
I don't know what to believe. Well, they say they're all well,
so maybe that's the truth. I don't know.
OK, are they friends though? I don't even really think so.
We're against this. Leader, but there's really no
photographic evidence that they're still friends.
They don't tweet at each other, They don't, they're never seen
together. They don't post about each
other. They both regularly interact and
meet up with Paul Wesley and like the rest of the cast, but
there's no evidence that they're still friends.
I mean, they might text here and there, but we don't know that
for sure. I I gather that they are
friendly. It's all like, all good.
If I see you at a party, I'll say hi.
I'll shake your hand, I'll ask you how you are.
But we're not going on double dates and hanging out, you know?
Her body language, I don't know, she seemed awkward to me.
I felt like she was kind of trying to like rush through her
answer and then Andy, like quickly moved on to the next.
It wasn't like super awkward, but it didn't seem like she
tossed her head back and laughed and was like, Oh yes, we're
friends. Like it.
It seemed a little weird. Yeah, it's probably not a
conversation you want to have, especially not like on TV, you
know? Very bold of that guy to ask
that question. I know.
Well after that, Nina went on to date a few people, none that
were that notable. However, in 2019, Nina met the
Olympic snowboarder Shaun White at a motivational workshop in
Florida and they've been together ever since, which is
about 5 years. Nice.
And that's, that's pretty much it.
I mean, like I said, Nina and Shawn are still together and Ian
and Nikki are still together. And in fact, in June 2003, Ian
and Nikki had a second child, a son, But nobody knows the name
of that child. Wow, I would be kind of
interested in Nina and Shaun White.
I know I'm. Intrigued.
It's definitely I think we haven't longest relationship.
We haven't done that many athletes on the show.
Yeah. You did Tom Brady, but has there
been any others? I did Joe DiMaggio.
Yeah. Oh yes, I think that might be
it. We did.
Annie Oakley. That I was like, I guess that
counts. I mean, shooting, shooting is an
Olympic sport. And her.
Husband. Interesting.
And her husband, just just her own husband, you know, whatever
his name is. But yeah, I.
Mean you guys. Knew a little bit about their
relationship prior but like is this how you expected their
relationship to pan out once you do all the research?
No, I mean you can't really predict much if you don't know
anything. Like I'm always surprised.
Yeah. Did you think it'd be like with
a lot more drama? I'm not surprised.
I'm, I guess I'm a little surprised that her and Nikki are
not as close because that's definitely the way that I think
Nikki had made it seem. And we kind of got that
perspective in our Me Too episode of our podcast.
So that's pretty interesting. Yeah, yeah.
If anything, it's less dramatic than I expected.
Like, I I don't know why I thought this, but I thought it
was like, Oh my God, she was best friends with Nikki Reed.
And then she got with him and yeah, I thought it was really
dramatic. But it seems like from your
research it's not as big of a deal as.
Yeah, it's odd though, because like, if people think that
they're friends, it's funny that they immediately jump to
thinking like, oh, Nikki's dating her friend's ex, but
like, what if Nina set Nikki and Ian up?
Why would she do that if that's her ex?
Maybe she thought they would work together and clearly they
did, but maybe that's not the case because I think she
probably would have mentioned that if it was.
But it's just interesting that I mean.
She would have to be. She'd have to be like, she'd
have to be so over Ian to do something like that, to set them
up. She'd have to be like, disgusted
with him. Yeah, I definitely think Ian
probably ended the relationship because it seemed like it
probably was down to him wanting to get married and have kids,
especially considering the fact that once they broke up, he
immediately got engaged and got. Married and had kids, yeah.
So he's really putting his money where his mouth is.
And she was kind of like seeing a bunch of different guys.
I I think sometimes like the dumpy does that, like throws
himself into like not and it's a it's a good thing.
It's what you should do. But you know, like is seeing
different people and you know, I, I agree.
It seems like maybe he ended it. It seems like they were able to
work very cordially and there wasn't much awkwardness, maybe a
little bit, but it does seem like they were able to put their
feelings aside and work professionally.
I do get a sense that maybe Nina did have a little bit of hard
feelings regarding Ian and especially how fast he moved on,
but I think things were ultimately for the better.
I think. So I would say Oz that they get
back together I think are pretty low, honestly.
I mean, Ian seems happy with Nikki.
I mean, I don't know much about Nina and Sean.
I would say probably like 2% honestly.
I mean, he would have to get divorced.
That's like that's a big hurdle. Yeah, I'll say like 1%.
I would say pretty low too. Yeah, 1%.
But Kate, thank you so much. So well researched.
Yeah, thank you. Congrats on your.
First episode, thank you. I know I was telling you guys
when I was researching this that like I was pretty much going
like month by month, like week by week, pretty much going
through like the Internet Archive.
Good. Because even though they have a
lot of fans and stuff like that, nobody had made really like a
comprehensive like timeline for them.
Like a lot of fan sites had like little to no information about
their relationship. So now we're the source.
Thanks to you. Kate, do you wanna tease who we
are talking about next week on the Patreon?
Yes, so for my next episode, Oh my God, which is episode #100.
Or. 100th episode. Crazy.
What I'm gonna say is that there was a miniseries period drama
made about this couple that released this year.
That's all I'm going to say. Wow, that's super big.
Oh, I thought it was not. Oh, you said period.
I said period pizza, right? Yes.
OK, OK, that helps. But thank you, Caitlin, and
thank you guys for listening so much.
Yup. Thank you, I had so much fun
researching and posting this episode.
I'm so excited to hear what everybody thinks.
Oh, and we'll get back together next week.
We'll get back together next week.
Is your heart filled with pain? Shall I come back again?
Tell me, dear, how are you lonesome?