Nina Dobrev says she and Paul Wesley 'despised each other' initially

Los Angeles: "Vampire Diaries" alum Nina Dobrev has revealed she and co-star Paul Wesley didn't see eye to eye at the outset of the hit show.

Dobrev, who played Elena Gilbert/ Katherine Pierce on the CW series, said she respected Wesley but he was not exactly her favourite person from the team.

"Paul and I didn't get along at the beginning of the show. I respected Paul Wesley, I didn't like Paul Wesley," she said, as quoted by Us Weekly.

The actor was speaking to friends and "Directionally Challenged" podcast hosts Candice King and Kayla Ewell.

Dobrev, 30, starred opposite Wesley's Stefan Salvatore until, ultimately, her character chose his brother Damon Salvatore (played by Ian Somerhalder).

The actor also weighed on the rumours of dating Wesley due to their on-screen chemistry, saying their dislike for each other was misread as love.

"I remember everyone would walk up to me after the show aired and they'd be like, 'Are you and Paul dating in real life?' Because everyone thought that we had such good chemistry.

"And we despised each other so much, that it read as love. We really just didn't get along the first maybe five months of shooting," she said.

Dobrev recalled Wesley, 36, telling her when they were shooting the pilot that a time will come when she would miss him.

"Maybe we had a moment where we actually connected, and he looked at me and he was like, 'Ten years from now, when we're not on this show, you're gonna really miss me. You're gonna miss these times; you're look back, and this is gonna be the good old days. Well appreciate each other in 10 years.'

"He was so f**k right. We ended up getting to a good place and it was fine. Of everyone, I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most. We're probably the closest. We hang out a lot. We're really good friends. I love his wife. It's so funny how time changes everything because I never thought he would be one of my best friends," she added.

Dobrev left "Vampire Diaries" two years before the series finale in March 2017.