Fans of The Vampire Diaries were crushed to find out that Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley “despised” each other in the early days of their friendship. In case you missed it, the Degrassi actress spilled the truth about their rocky friendship back in June — and now, the Tell Me a Story actor is confirming that, yes, it is true. Ugh, our hearts!

“I think the point that Nina was making, and I’ll totally back her up on this, is that we totally clashed [the] first couple years in terms of just getting on each other’s nerves, and then developed this wonderful friendship,” the actor told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on August 1. “So it’s like this nice, happy ending.”

The 37-year-old star went on to explain all about how their hatred transformed into a forever friendship.

“I think sometimes when people work together nonstop, do press nonstop for years and years on end, you’re just — you don’t appreciate the person that’s in front of you. You’re like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m exhausted and tired.’ And I think now, it’s such a nice sort of story because we’re such good friends now,” he said. “I think it was a cool lesson to learn. It’s like the people that kind of maybe you don’t get along with in the beginning later surprise you, and I think a lot of my friendships are like that.”

The actor’s comments come weeks after Nina spilled the beans about their rough start on the “Directionally Challenged” podcast back in June.

“Paul and I didn’t get along at the beginning of the show. I respected Paul Wesley, I didn’t like Paul Wesley,” the 30-year-old actress revealed. “We really just didn’t get along the first maybe five months of shooting.”

We must say — these two really did a good job at faking a friendship in the beginning. We’re just so glad they’re cool now. Phew!

Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.