Ian Somerhalder Reveals Which ‘Vampire Diaries’ Couple He Felt Was ‘Forced’

If it were up to Ian Somerhalder, one The Vampire Diaries couple would have never seen the light of day.

Somerhalder, 46, appeared on the Tuesday, March 4, edition of Hot Ones Versus with his Brothers Bond Bourbon co-founder and former The Vampire Diaries castmate Paul Wesley. Somerhalder played Damon Salvatore on the series, while Wesley, 42, played his brother, Stefan.

In the episode, in which the two interviewed each other over spicy chicken wings, Somerhalder prompted Wesley to reveal a storyline he thought “should’ve never made it out of the writer’s room.”

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“After Nina [Dobrev] left the show, they were like, ‘We need to pair Stefan with some romantic partner’ and then Stefan and Caroline (Candice King) ended up having a wedding and getting married, right?” Wesley recalled.

Somerhalder, shaking his head in agreement, said, “Oh yeah, it was a little forced, but it was cute.”

After Wesley agreed “it was cute,” Somerhalder told him it worked because “she’s pretty and you’re pretty.”

The supernatural series ran for eight seasons from 2009 to 2017. At the heart of the series was Elena Gilbert (Dobrev), who was initially infatuated with Stefan before developing feelings for Damon, creating a love triangle.

The show’s character arcs would change when Dobrev, 36, surprised fans by leaving the series in 2015 after six seasons.

“Everyone knew in our family, in the Vampire world, knew that this was my last season for a couple of years now. It was just the fans [who were surprised], but the fans are very much our family, as well,” Dobrev told PEOPLE in a May 2015 interview.

“That’s why we wanted to include them and why we told them in advance – we didn’t want to make anyone angry, we wanted to include them in the last little journey, this awesome ride that we’re going on together,” she continued.

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The show would run for two more seasons following her departure, with Stefan and Caroline eventually getting married.

Somerhalder is now retired from acting, while Wesley has a recurring role as James T. Kirk on Paramount+’s Star Trek: Brave New Worlds.