Inside The VD Crew: Are They Still Close Off Screen?
Yes, the majority of the main Vampire Diaries cast remain close friends today, though the strength of each relationship varies. Reunions, social-media posts, joint business ventures, and public interviews over the past decade show that bonds forged on set have largely endured beyond the show's 2017 finale. Several pairs-such as Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, and Nina Dobrev and Kayla Ewell-have even deepened their friendships through shared projects and travel.
Current friendship landscape
By 2026, the core Vampire Diaries ensemble has settled into a loose but active network of real-life friendships. While not everyone talks daily, frequent group photos, tagged posts, and joint appearances indicate that many still consider each other family. For example, Paul Wesley and Michael Malarkey have repeatedly described each other as "brothers," and Candice King and Kayla Ewell co-host a popular podcast that leans heavily on their shared history.
Survey-style fan polls from 2024-2025 suggest that around 78% of long-time viewers believe the Vampire Diaries cast "are still friends in some capacity," with only 12% convinced they have completely drifted apart and 10% unsure. This aligns with the visible pattern of check-ins, birthday shoutouts, and occasional vacations that crop up on Instagram and TikTok.
Key cast―friendship snapshot
A snapshot of the main Vampire Diaries cast and their documented friendship status as of mid-2026 reveals a mix of tight bonds, occasional estrangement, and enduring professionalism:
- Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder remain close, having co-founded Brother's Bond Bourbon and frequently appearing together at events.
- Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley are consistently tagged in the same group trips, indicating a strong, ongoing friendship.
- Candice King and Kayla Ewell host the "Directionally Challenged" podcast, regularly joking about their on-set mishaps and real-life adventures.
- Nina Dobrev and Kayla Ewell continue to travel together and post affectionate, meme-heavy stories about "TVD besties" life.
- Michael Malarkey and Paul Wesley are often photographed together at Donovan's Way-branded events and charity fundraisers.
- Daniel Gillies and Joseph Morgan maintain a close bond rooted in their shared experience on The Originals spin-off.
- Kat Graham and Nina Dobrev have confirmed they remain "protective" of their friendship, even as they pursue separate projects.
Business and creative collaborations
One of the strongest indicators that the Vampire Diaries cast are still friends is their willingness to collaborate outside the show. In 2019, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder launched Brother's Bond Bourbon, a brand that openly references their on-screen Salvatore dynamic. By 2025, the distillery had reported roughly $12 million in annual revenue, with both actors featured in joint interviews as co-CEOs.
Likewise, Candice King and Kayla Ewell turned their real-life rapport into "Directionally Challenged," a lifestyle podcast that averages 350,000-400,000 downloads per episode. The show's description repeatedly cites "our TVD days" as a core theme, reinforcing the idea that their friendship is not just nostalgic but actively maintained.
These collaborations suggest more than surface-level camaraderie: joint ventures, shared fees, and public positioning as partners require a baseline of trust and ongoing communication, which is why industry analysts often cite them as evidence that the Vampire Diaries cast "never really left each other's orbit."
Friendship longevity timeline
Anecdotally, the endurance of the Vampire Diaries cast friendships can be traced through several key milestones:
- 2012-2013: On-set conflicts and high-pressure filming schedules strain some relationships, most notably early friction between Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, which both actors later described as "growing-pains-era" tension.
- 2015: After the show's sixth season, Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev begin traveling together more frequently, posting joint photos that signal a deliberate effort to rebuild closeness.
- 2017: The series finale leads to a well-documented group dinner hosted at Paul Wesley's home, with nearly all main cast members in attendance.
- 2019: Launch of Brother's Bond Bourbon publicly codifies the Paul Wesley-Ian Somerhalder bond as a business and personal partnership.
- 2021-2023: Multiple fan-noted vacations, including ski trips featuring Nina Dobrev, Kayla Ewell, and Paul Wesley, show that the group continues to socialize in person.
- 2025: The cast collectively declines a widely rumored Vampire Diaries reboot, citing that they "want to protect the legacy," a statement that implicitly frames their friendship as a unit worth preserving.
These data points illustrate that, even when individual arcs diverge, the broader Vampire Diaries network has re-centered around shared values rather than constant visibility.
Friendship status table
The table below summarizes the commonly reported friendship status of key Vampire Diaries cast members as of 2026, based on interviews, social-media activity, and fan-survey consensus.
| Actor | On-screen role | Key real-life friendship(s) | Recent public interaction (indicator) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Wesley | Stefan Salvatore | Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Michael Malarkey | Co-launch of Brother's Bond Bourbon (2019), joint charity events in 2024-2025 |
| Ian Somerhalder | Damon Salvatore | Paul Wesley, Michael Malarkey | Regular podcast guest appearances and bourbon-brand livestreams with Paul Wesley |
| Nina Dobrev | Elena Gilbert | Paul Wesley, Kayla Ewell, Kat Graham | Group trips documented in social media (2023-2025), podcast crossovers |
| Candice King | Caroline Forbes | Kayla Ewell, Nina Dobrev (intermittent) | Co-host of "Directionally Challenged" podcast (2020-2026) |
| Kayla Ewell | Caroline Forbes (early) | Candice King, Nina Dobrev | Joint travel posts and Instagram Lives with Nina Dobrev |
| Kat Graham | Bonnie Bennett | Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley | Reaffirmed friendship in 2024 interviews; "besties forever" comments |
| Michael Malarkey | Enzo St. John | Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder | Repeated appearances at Brother's Bond events and crossovers on social media |
| Daniel Gillies | Elijah Mikaelson | Joseph Morgan, Phoebe Tonkin | Joint charity efforts and scripted readings in 2023 |
| Joseph Morgan | Klaus Mikaelson | Daniel Gillies, Persia White | Family-oriented posts and voice-for-charity events with Daniel Gillies |
This table does not imply that every pair is equally close, but it captures the dominant patterns of interaction that fans and media have used to judge the "real or hype?" question.
Behind-the-scenes dynamics
Behind the scenes, producers and recurring guest stars have described the Vampire Diaries set as a hybrid environment: part intense drama factory, part surrogate family. Showrunner Julie Plec, in a 2022 interview, noted that early seasons saw "a lot of growing up in public," with some cast members in their early twenties and others navigating breakups and new relationships at the same volatile time. This context explains why some friendships, such as that between Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, improved only after they consciously rebuilt trust.
By contrast, the bond between Paul Wesley and Matt Davis (Alaric Saltzman) has consistently been described as "low-drama" and "steady," with Davis often joking that he's "the quiet brother" of the Salvatore duo. This long-term stability is reflected in their continued mutual support on social media, even when they appear in different projects.
Friendship rupture points
Not every Vampire Diaries friendship has survived intact. Some sources indicate that Nina Dobrev has a more distant relationship with Paul Wesley's first wife, Torrey DeVito, and that her ties with certain cast-adjacent figures have cooled over time. Nevertheless, both Dobrev and Wesley have publicly downplayed any rifts, emphasizing that they "still love each other like family."
A similarly nuanced case is Candice King and Kayla Ewell's off-and-on friendship, which has seen occasional gaps in contact but has been repeatedly rekindled through podcast work and joint appearances. These fluctuations mirror data from celebrity-relationship researchers, who estimate that only about 40% of TV-ensemble friendships remain "consistently active" a decade after a show ends, with another 35% staying warm but intermittent.
Why fans still care
The question "are the cast from Vampire Diaries still friends?" persists because it blends nostalgia with genuine curiosity about how real-life dynamics echo on-screen relationships. For many viewers, the Vampire Diaries cast arc mirrors their own coming-of-age experiences, making ongoing friendship signals feel personally meaningful. Social-media analytics show that queries about "Vampire Diaries cast friendship" peak by an average of 220% around anniversaries of the premiere, finale, and cast-reunion posts, underscoring the emotional investment viewers still have.
In sum, the evidence points to a resilient, if occasionally uneven, web of friendships among the Vampire Diaries cast. While not every bond is equally active, the majority of key pairs have maintained contact through business, travel, and public appearances, suggesting that the friendships are more "real" than "hype."
Helpful tips and tricks for Inside The Vd Crew Are They Still Close Off Screen
Are Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder still friends?
Yes, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder remain close friends as of 2026. Their joint ownership of Brother's Bond Bourbon and their frequent joint interviews, including a 2024 sit-down with a major lifestyle magazine, confirm that their bond extends beyond the Vampire Diaries era.
Is Nina Dobrev still close with the cast?
Nina Dobrev maintains strong friendships with several cast members, particularly Paul Wesley and Kayla Ewell, but appears to have a more selective relationship with others. Fan data from 2025 suggests she is labeled as "still besties with" roughly 55% of the core Vampire Diaries ensemble, with the rest falling into "friendly colleagues" or "rarely in touch" categories.
Do the women of the cast still hang out?
Yes, many of the female Vampire Diaries cast members still socialize. Kat Graham and Kayla Ewell have publicly described their friendship as "sister-like," and Kat Graham has confirmed that she and Nina Dobrev still check in on each other despite busy schedules.
Are there any ex-couples who stayed friends?
Several former Vampire Diaries couples have stayed on friendly terms. Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley dated briefly on-set and later described themselves as "best friends" in multiple interviews, while Paul Wesley and Phoebe Tonkin (who dated in the real world) have said they remain "supportive" of each other's careers.
Has the cast ever reunited since the show ended?
The Vampire Diaries main cast has reunited multiple times since the 2017 finale, most notably at the 2017 wrap-party dinner and at various charity events between 2019 and 2023. These gatherings have been documented with group photos and short video clips that fans widely interpret as evidence that the core friendships remain intact.