‘The Vampire Diaries’ Fans Applaud ‘Genius’ Surprise Reunion 8 Years Later originally appeared on Parade.
They’re back! The Vampire Diaries fans are freaking out on July 23, 2025, after Nina Dobrev dusted off her old characters, Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce, a.k.a the Petrova Doppelgängers, from the hit series.
Dobrev took on a social media trend called the “twin telepathy challenge” using the two characters, who are technically not twins but share lineage from Amara in the show, which makes them look identical. The challenge involves calling out a series of instructions and seeing which ones the “twins” complete the same way, even without seeing each other.
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Of course, the best part of Dobrev’s video, for fans, was seeing her take on both the cunning and manipulative sass of Katherine and the compassionate bubbliness of Elena side-by-side for the first time since the series ended in 2017.
She dressed the part, too, with Katherine in a chic all-black, skin-tight outfit, a full glam makeup look, and sky-high stiletto heels, while the Elena character had a more basic makeup look, casual jeans and sneakers, and a black leather jacket.
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A post shared by Nina Dobrev (@nina)
“This is making my TVD heart so happy,” said one fan, with another adding, “I’ve never screamed so hard!!! Welcome back Elena & Katherine.” A third applauded Dobrev’s acting abilities, adding, “She still got it!” and a fourth simply wrote, “Genius.”
Others were feeling called to rewatch the series, which ran from September 10, 2009, to
March 10, 2017, on The CW, for a grand total of 8 seasons and 171 episodes. Dobrev played Elena from the very beginning, alongside Paul Wesley’s Stefan Salvatore and Ian Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore, until leaving the show during its sixth season and only appearing as a guest for the final two.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ Fans Applaud ‘Genius’ Surprise Reunion 8 Years Later first appeared on Parade on Jul 23, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
