The Vampire Diaries season 7: Alaric to turn to alcohol and new heretics to enter Mystic Falls

The Vampire Diaries season 7 will bring Damon and Stefan really close, executive producer Julie Plec confirmed.

Plec also teased about the sad future of Alaric (Matthew Davis) after the tragic death of Jo and his unborn twins.

"This is not an easy transition for him. He's already been through so much and now he's going through this. This is about as horrible and despicable a thing that could happen," the show producer told Zap2It at San Diego Comic-Con.

"He's not going to recover so easily. He's going to explore his grief in some unconventional ways involving a lot of booze and some secret desires that involve psychics and witches to try to contact the dead and God knows what else."

However, she also teased that Alaric will bounce back during the course of TVD season 7.

"I like to put him in situations that are really terrible because he forces him to dig as deep as he can. I love that. I love messing with Alaric. We'll be rooting for him to come out to the other side," Plec said.

Season 6 of the CW supernatural series ended on a tragic note with Elena Gilbert slipping into a coma for 70 years and will not wake up until Bonnie dies.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Justice Leak, Jaiden Kaine, Tim Kang and Todd Lasance will all reappear in the new season.

According to the website, Leak will play Malcolm, a clean-cut heretic who doesn't like being told no. His character will have no fear of death and will appear in the premiere episode.

The Vampire Diaries season 7 will premiere on 8 October this year.