Delena or Stelena? The Vampire Diaries fans have been debating whether Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) should be with Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) or Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) since Season 1. Ian Somerhalder has firmly picked a side -- the one without his character. And it has to do with how "problematic" Damon and Elena fans were to his personal life, even more than just thinking Damon and Elena should not have ended up together in The Vampire Diaries finale.
Good news, though -- Ian Somerhalder loves loves LOVES Stelena fans. So at least Stelena fans can be happy about that, even if they're still upset about The Vampire Diaries finale.
Ian Somerhalder made his new comments about Stelena and Delena fans during The Vampire Diaries convention held over the weekend in New Jersey. The gathering -- which also included Paul Wesley, Joseph Morgan, and many more -- honored the 10th anniversary of TVD, which premiered on September 10, 2009.
So here we are, 10 years later, and the Stelena vs. Delena war is not yet over.
During a panel talk at the convention, Ian Somerhalder sat next to on-screen brother Paul Wesley and answered which 'ship he preferred, Stelena or Delena. His answer was captured by fans @wesleysIaugh and @wesleylover:
Stelena was better for my life because Delena fans can reeeaaallly be, uh, to me and my wife and my family and stuff. So I love Stelena. Stelena was fun. Stelena fans are like super cool.
Paul Wesley appeared to think he meant Stefan and Elena's fans were the problem for him -- which might make more sense from an outside perspective -- but Ian Somerhalder clarified that no, he was talking about the fans who wanted Elena to be with his own character, Damon:
No Delena fans were actually problematic. Yeah. To my family and me, and it just got really weird for a little while. I 'shipped Elena and Damon like crazy until the 'ship just got negative. So I love Stelena. It's easier for my life. And I got to see Paul all the time 'cause he and Elena were always making out and stuff.
Yeah, The Vampire Diaries fandom is passionate and can be intense. Obviously not all Delena fans went overboard, but Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev dated in real life for about three years and fans were very invested in their on-and-off-screen relationships. When they broke up, and Ian started dating and then married Twilight's Nikki Reed ... not all Delena fans took it well.
Some Delena fans are now upset with Ian Somerhalder, but others understand why he felt that way, since several viewers crossed the line and made it personal:
It's understandably hurtful to be lumped into one large negative group, but from Ian Somerhalder's point-of-view it makes sense that the lingering feeling about "Delena" might be about all the times fans representing that 'ship made his life more difficult.
At least Delena got the endgame on The Vampire Diaries, so they have that. Stefan ended up with wife Caroline, but sacrificed himself in the end. Damon became newly human and lived a long happy life with Elena in Mystic Falls. Caroline is now somewhere in Europe and hopefully we'll see her again soon on Legacies.
Damon and Elena are still meant to be in Mystic Falls, where Dr. Elena Salvatore runs a family practice, in the timeline of the spinoff Legacies. Legacies Season 2 premieres October 10 on The CW, and fans are hoping to hear more about or even see Damon and Elena's daughter Stefanie.
How do you feel about Ian's Delena comments? Fair? Foul?
