What is Nina Dobrev’s net worth? Vampire Diaries Alum reveals pay disparity with co-stars led to exit

For Nina Dobrev, the journey from Canadian teen drama to Hollywood stardom had paid off, literally. Celebrity Net Worth placed her fortune at $11 million, a figure built on her breakout role in Degrassi: The Next Generation, her long stint on The Vampire Diaries, and a string of film appearances. Her career, though, has extended well beyond the screen.

By 2019, Dior tapped her as a beauty ambassador. Two years later, she advanced to the role of Parfums Christian Dior ambassador. As The Things reported in 2021, brands like Dior were known to pay high amounts to their celebrity partners, though exact sums were not disclosed.

Still, the conversation around Nina Dobrev lately hasn't been about endorsements or net worth. Recent coverage pointed back to her exit from The Vampire Diaries, with reports suggesting she stepped away from the hit CW series due to a pay gap with co-stars, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.

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Why Nina Dobrev walked away from The Vampire Diaries after six seasons?

When The Vampire Diaries lost its leading lady in 2015, the fandom was left reeling. But behind Nina Dobrev’s exit lay years of frustration over workload and pay. Samantha Highfill’s book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, offered Dobrev the chance to speak openly about her choice.

Dobrev admitted that she, Candice King, and Kat Graham were “the lowest-paid series regulars” for the first two seasons, despite her carrying double duty as Elena Gilbert and her doppelganger, Katherine Pierce. Dobrev said:

“It was a bit of a tricky situation because my contract only said to play Elena, but I was playing multiple characters, which doubled my work-load, I had to be on set for double the amount of time, I had to memorize double the amount of lines.”

Nina Dobrev said she pushed for fair compensation, aiming to match the salaries of male leads Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. Eventually, Somerhalder also ended up being her love interest. She succeeded in getting a raise but never achieved equal pay. Former CW President Mark Pedowitz acknowledged that there were private negotiations but declined to address her salary directly.

The tension filtered down to the creative team. Showrunner Julie Plec recalled being told not to write Katherine into the story anymore because the studio didn’t want to pay for Dobrev for two roles. Plec explained:

“Which of course was not something that I felt was right or fair.”

By season six, Nina Dobrev decided to walk away. Fans said their goodbyes to Elena Gilbert in May 2015, closing the book on one of television’s most beloved characters, and shedding light on the ongoing battle over pay equity in Hollywood.

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Nina Dobrev explained why her audition for Vampire Diaries was more complicated than fans knew

Nina Dobrev’s love life had always fascinated fans, long before she said “yes” to Shaun White in 2024. Her latest reflections added a few more surprising details to that story. In Highfill's book, the actress shared that she had been secretly dating actor Rob Mayes while auditioning for the series. Dobrev shared:

“There was a bunch of drama around that [audition] because I was dating Rob Mayes at the time, but they didn’t know that, we were trying to keep it really secret because we were afraid that if they found out, they wouldn’t cast one or both of us.”

Nina Dobrev landed the role of Elena Gilbert, while Mayes missed out on Damon. That part went to Ian Somerhalder, who later became her boyfriend. Dobrev said:

“It got awkward because I did get cast but he didn’t, and then we subsequently broke up, then, I ended up eventually, years later, dating the actual Damon.”

Nina Dobrev and Somerhalder dated for three years, from 2010 until 2013. Showrunner Julie Plec remembered the pairing as “really charming and sweet,” even as the crew encouraged the couple to keep real life and screen life separate. After their split, the two continued playing love interests on screen without public drama.

Fast-forward to today, and Dobrev’s romantic life looks very different. In October 2024, she engaged to White. Speaking with People Magazine, she admitted the biggest surprise was how quickly people began asking about wedding plans. The actress said:

“Literally the day of. The first day. I think when we got off, when we told Shaun’s mom, the first thing she asked is, ‘When’s the wedding?’”

From dating the actual Damon to saying yes to an Olympic champion, Dobrev’s love life has been anything but predictable. And if her engagement to Shaun White proved anything, it is that the actress has finally found the role of a lifetime, off-screen.