Nina Dobrev, Michael Trevino leaving 'The Vampire Diaries' after season six

Say it isn't so! Nina Dobrev is leaving The Vampire Diaries after six seasons. The 26-year-old broke the news on her Instagram account, telling her fans it was time to move on and start the "next chapter" of her life.

Nina has starred in The Vampire Diaries as protagonist Elena Gilbert ever since the CW show began in 2009. Rumors that she was leaving began to swirl after pictures taken on a group holiday at Lake Lanier were shared on social media by the crew, with the hashtag '#ninawewillmissyou'.

Nina Dobrev has confirmed she is leaving The Vampire Diaries Photo: Getty Images

"I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn't a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party," Nina confirmed, alongside a photo of herself with Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec. "I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be a human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger."

She continued: "I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever."

Dearest TVD Family, I've just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries. I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn't just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party. I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever. There's more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you'll get to hear all about my experiences over the next month as we approach the season finale (I have given an exclusive interview for the June issue of SELF Magazine that I am excited for you to see!), but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert's life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her -- and to my work family -- as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you (this weekend's pictures were just the beginning). You, the wonderful fandom who gave more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up in LA to audition for 'that Twilight TV show.' ;-) I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what's coming, you don't. Love, Nina

A photo posted by Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev) on Apr 6, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT

Nina invited the show's fans to "hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert's life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her – and to my work family – as I move on to the next chapter of my life."

She added, "You, the wonderful fandom who have more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up to L.A. to audition for 'that Twilight TV show'. I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what's coming, you don't."

Nina as Elena Gilbert, alongside Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon Salvatore

Executive producer Julie, who developed the series with Kevin Williamson, said Nina would be greatly missed."Saying goodbye to Nina is both bittersweet and beautiful," she said in a statement. "After six-plus years together, the entire cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries has reached a level of closeness that I don't think any of us ever expected. Nina is excited to spread her wings, get some rest, travel the world and also take it by storm, and we support her a thousand-fold."

Nina isn't the only TVD castmember leaving the show. Julie also announced the Michael Trevino, who plays Tyler Lockwood, is leaving the series. "Michael has been a beloved member of the Vampire Diaries family since day one," she said. "Even though he's also going to be out in the world exploring new opportunities, we look forward to finding creative ways to make sure he and his character Tyler Lockwood always remain a part of the show."