Torrey DeVitto had zero hesitations about her decision to not return to The Vampire Diaries following her divorce from Paul Wesley.
The Pretty Little Liars alum, who played Dr. Meredith Fell in seasons 3 and 4 of the hit supernatural drama, was married to Wesley, who starred as Stefan Salvatore, from 2011 to 2013. However, DeVitto shared on a recent episode of Rachel Bilson’s Broad Ideas podcast that she went through a “really dark time” post-split.
“It was [public],” she explained. “It was the first time I did something like that. Because he was on a really big show that was really popular, so it did draw [attention].”
As a result, DeVitto admitted that she had no interest in continuing to work on The Vampire Diaries with Wesley following their divorce.
“I was [on it], but I only did like six episodes. And then once we were splitting up I was like, ‘Pfft, not going back there,’” she recalled. “I’m not that kind of person that’s like, ‘Well, this is business, I can stay.’ It’s like, no. I don’t want to come back. I’m good, thank you.”
“That did garner a bit of attention in a way that I don’t think I was prepared for,” the Chicago Med actress added of the extra public eyes on their divorce. “And then it was hard too because for a couple years, anybody that I would date afterwards, people would just [say], ‘He’s so disgusting. He’ll never be [Wesley]. How could you do this?’”
DeVitto described the public scrutiny as “mortifying” because fans “glamorized” Wesley’s character on The Vampire Diaries, though they didn’t actually “know him.”
Wesley and DeVitto tied the knot four years after meeting on the set of 2007’s Killer Movie. The pair split two years later.
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor later dated Phoebe Tonkin, who also played Hayley Marshall on The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. He then married Ines de Ramon but they split in 2022. Wesley has most recently been romantically linked to model Natalie Kuckenberg.
As for DeVitto, she is currently engaged to Jared LaPine, and they are expecting their first child together.