AceShowbiz -

Don't cry just yet "The Vampire Diaries" fans! There's still a hope that the show will continue beyond the upcoming season 8, according to showrunner Julie Plec. The executive producer recently addressed the rumors which started after star Katerina Graham said the eighth season would be the last for her.

"I'm going to be dead honest with you: I was so happy to get season 8 that even the idea of season 9 is so far away - I haven't even started thinking about it," Plec told TVLine. "I know Kat made her announcement; I wish her everything she wants, and she can stay as long as she wants."

"Every time we enter a new season, we think, 'There's no more story to tell. We're done,' " she continued. "And then when we start talking about it and we realize, 'Oh, great, we've still got a lot of gas in the tank.' "

Plec added, "Once we get into breaking season 8, which will start in May, we'll really get a sense of where we are with these characters and with this world. How much do we still have left in the show? If we feel strongly that we need to keep going, we'll advocate for that; if we feel like there's nothing else we can do, then I might make a call up to the bosses. We won't know until we really start talking about it creatively."

It should be noted though that Plec made the statements before Ian Somerhalder shocked us with the news that the show would end with the eighth season. "We have decided to do one last season to really do the story justice," he said at Walker Stalker Con in Nashville on Sunday, April 10.

The CW, however, stated that no decision had been made regarding the show's future beyond season 8.