Nina Dobrev Returning For Season 8 Of ‘The Vampire Diaries’? Creator Julie Plec Weighs In

A year ago, Vampire Diaries fans thought they saw the last of Nina Dobrev. But, in the Season 7 finale, fans didn’t see Dobrev’s character, Elena Gilbert, but they did hear her voice. Is that a sign that Elena will be coming back next season?

According to Seventeen , during Season 7’s finale, the mysterious villain tempted Damon (Ian Somerhalder) with none other than the voice of Elena. The voice recording was brand new material that was created just for that particular episode.

The producers said they were capable of creating the voice-over using material from past episodes but went out on a limb and asked the actress if she would be interested in doing the recording on set.

“I reached out and said, ‘We can either cobble it together from a bunch of episodes, or you can come in and see everybody and do ADR,’” executive producer Julie Plec revealed to TV Line . “She chose to do it in person, which was great because it was a nice little personal Nina visit.”

Fans welcomed hearing Elena’s voice again, but they will be even happier to learn that Dobrev is up for returning for the series finale. Plec teased fans by revealing that she is still on board with her original plan to bring Nina Dobrev back when the show wraps up.

“It’s what she and I kind of agreed on when she decided to move on, and it’s what I’ve got in my head,” Julie continued. “Obviously, things can change throughout time, if the show goes on longer than we expect it to, or if we all collectively decide it would be fun to bring her back earlier, and she wanted to.”

However, Movie Pilot states that in the end, it’s Nina’s choice whether or not to come back. Furthermore, since leaving The Vampire Diaries , Dobrev has said on various occasions that she isn’t planning on returning to the show.

“But in my opinion,” Plec quickly added. “She was very clear about what she wanted the next step in her life to be, and she’s doing a great job of achieving that. So I’m sticking with my side of the plan, which is to bring her back at the very end.”

Meanwhile, despite having an appearance by fan-favorite Elena Gilbert, ParentHerald reports that the Vampire Diaries Season 7 finale did not do very well in the ratings.

Since the show’s infancy, it has dominated whatever time slot it was given. However, the ratings for the Season 7 finale were the lowest ratings a season finale of the show has ever received. Adding to the low ratings, several cast members have already announced that they won’t be returning after Season 8.

Ian Somerhalder and Kat Graham both recently announced that Season 8 would be their last, while Paul Wesley and Candice King have yet to comment.

While announcing his exit, Somerhalder made it sound like Season 8 was the last season of the show, but he clarified his exit from the show on Twitter .

“Last weekend I talked to an audience at a Q&A about the end of #TVD and how excited I was to make what I believe – my last year – be as great as possible,” he shared. “Somehow in my infinite wisdom and end-of-season foggy brain, I managed to make it sound like the show was coming to an end.”

Nevertheless, even if Nina did come back to reprise her role as Elena, Season 8 would be the last season fans see Bonnie, Damon, Stefan, and Caroline together.

The timing of multiple cast members announcing their departure and a possible return of Dobrev could be a sign that Season 8 would be the series’ final season.

So fans, tell us what you think. Will Nina Dobrev return next season? Will it be the final time TVD is on the small screen? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image via The CW]