Bob Mahoney/The CW The Vampire Diaries is losing a series regular.
Steven R. McQueen is set to exit the series in the 14th episode of the season, executive producer Julie Plec revealed to E! News at the 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour, saying, "We're saying goodbye to Steven McQueen."
But fret not, as Jeremy Gilbert will not be killed off the show, but head off to art school on the CW series.
"I wouldn't dare kill Jeremy; I think that would be all forms of cruelty," Plec says of Elena's (Nina Dobrev) younger brother (whose died several times on the show). "But I do think that he's a man now, he's not a little kid anymore and he's got to live his life. It's time for him to get started doing that."
So why did Plec and showrunner Caroline Dries decide it was time for Jeremy to leave Mystic Falls?
"As we continue to grow and add new characters and grow up our characters, every year we assess where our characters are and we decide is it time for them to grow up and move on, is it time for them to die, where are they going, what can their departure do to other characters, what can their departure do for their own character," she explains. "We weigh the pros and cons of keeping or losing anybody at any given point, which Is what keeps the show a little bit fresh is that you do actually say goodbye to people."
TVD was just renewed for a seventh season by the CW, and Plec says there is a strong possibility that more actors will exit the series. "Every goodbye now is going to feel so powerful and so emotional because it's real," she says. "As we move forward in subsequent seasons, there might be more people we say goodbye to as well."
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.