Vampire Diaries season 7: Ian Somhalder is 'excited' to shoot without Elena; as Paul Wesley thinks Steroline are over

Vampire Diaries season 7 will premiere without Elena Gilbert and fans will surely be unhappy about it. But it seems like Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon, is excited to see his character without the love of his life Elena in the upcoming season.

Somerhalder has claimed that his character will go back to season 1 and 2, and become the big bad villain that he was.

"We're actually very excited about telling this story," Somerhalder told Extra via MTV. "Mystic Falls without Elena Gilbert is going to be very different. We want to go back to that season 1 and season 2 of storytelling."

He also teased that the final scene of season 6 hinted at how the next season would begin.

"I think that the last scene in the last episode that you see is truly a depiction of what this next season's going to be," he said.

If this was not bad enough news for fans, Paul Wesley who plays Stefan recently teased that for him the romance between Stefan and Caroline is over as their relationship can never grow beyond being "good friends".

"Look, Stefan was madly in love with Elena [Nina Dobrev]. I don't think he thought for a moment that there would be another woman in his life. Ever," Wesley told TV Guide.

He explained that Steroline are more of pragamatic love. "Stefan and Elena have an unrelenting passion, which has merit. But forming a bond and friendship that develops into a lifelong partnership - that pragmatic love has merit as well," he said.

Wesley further claimed that the younger Salvatore's "I'm here for you" gesture towards Caroline is not for romantic reasons. "I think Stefan - and the writers - wants him and Caroline to be the endgame: the match," he said.

Vampire Diaries season 7 premieres on 8 October on The CW network.