Nina Dobrev And Ian Somerhalder Split

The Vampire Diaries co-stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder have ended their three-year relationship.

The former couple, who play Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore, were first rumored to be dating in June 2011, but it wasn’t until September that Somerhalder confirmed the relationship.

Somerhalder gushed over the former Degrassi actress in an interview with Us Weekly, saying, “She truly enjoys life. Her desire to experience and appreciate everything around her, and chuckle and enjoy it, is great.”

Somerhalder added that Dobrev could get away with making fun of him because it made him look at how he is perceived by others.

“When you’re really close to someone, they can make fun of you a lot and get away with it,” he said. “But they sort of poke you in all of 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!“

Dobrev admitted that she initially had no intention of dating a co-star because she wanted to remain 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,” she told Seventeen last September.

A source close to the former couple told Us Weekly that Dobrev and Somerhalder are “consummate professionals” and “will continue to work together and remain best friends, which is where the relationship started.”

The Vampire Diaries is currently in its fourth season, which premiered on October 11, 2012. The season wraps next Wednesday. The CW renewed the supernatural drama in February, and officially announced that it had picked up its spin-off, The Originals, in April.

Are you sad to learn that Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder have broken up?

[Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr]