"The Vampire Diaries" season 8 will see the return of Nina Dobrev, as confirmed by executive producer Julie Plec.

Since the announcement, fans have been wondering whether Nina will reprise her role as Elena Gilbert or will take on a new role. There are speculations that she will portray a new character named Katherine Pierce, though that remains to be seen.

Last year, Elena Gilbert got killed off in the series. In "The Vampire Diaries" season 7 finale, however, fans were surprised when Nina Dobrey made a surprise cameo.

Titled "Gods and Monsters," the final episode featured her voice, which Nina Dobrev recorded as Elena Gilbert. The episode showed random old clips of Elena while her voice was being played in the background. This led fans to speculate that her character might not have really died in the series.

In a recent interview, Plec admitted that she did not expect Nina's decision to come to the set and do an automated dialogue replacement (ADR), just so that the producers would not have to cobble anything from the old episodes of the series.

Meanwhile, Nina's role in the next installment of the series remains under wraps. However, Nina's return may spur a rather awkward atmosphere in "The Vampire Diaries" set.

Nina Dobrev is the ex-flame of Ian Somerhalder, who is now married to Nikki Reed. Rumors have it that Reed hates Dobrev.

Dobrev left the show last year to explore her other career options. Since the show is already fading, many believe that her return could give a boost to the show's rating.