Nina Dobrev is leaving The Vampire Diaries after six series. The 26-year-old broke the news on her Instagram account, telling her fans she was quitting the TV show to start the "next chapter" of her life.

Nina has starred in The Vampire Diaries as protagonist Elena Gilbert ever since the show began in 2009. Rumours that she was leaving began to swirl after pictures taken on a group holiday were shared on social media by the crew, with the hashtag "#ninawewillmissyou'"

"I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn't a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party," Nina confirmed, alongside a photo of herself with Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec.

"I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six-season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be a human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger.

"I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finals in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever."
Dearest TVD Family, I've just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries. I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn't just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party. I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever. There's more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you'll get to hear all about my experiences over the next month as we approach the season finale (I have given an exclusive interview for the June issue of SELF Magazine that I am excited for you to see!), but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert's life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her -- and to my work family -- as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you (this weekend's pictures were just the beginning). You, the wonderful fandom who gave more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up in LA to audition for 'that Twilight TV show.' ;-) I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what's coming, you don't. Love, Nina

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

Nina invited the show's fans to "hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert's life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her – and to my work family – as I move on to the next chapter of my life".

She added: "You, the wonderful fandom who have more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up to LA to audition for 'that Twilight TV show'. I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what's coming, you don't."

Executive producer Julie, who developed the series with Kevin Williamson, said Nina would be greatly missed.



"Saying goodbye to Nina is both bittersweet and beautiful," she said in a statement. "After six-plus years together, the entire cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries has reached a level of closeness that I don't think any of us ever expected.

"Nina is excited to spread her wings, get some rest, travel the world and also take it by storm, and we support her a thousand-fold."

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