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Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder Joke About Breakup, Chemistry at People’s Choice Awards

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder onstage at the People's Choice Awards
Accepting the People's Choice Award for Favorite Onscreen Chemistry, Vampire Diaries costars and real-life exes Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder joked about their 2013 breakup

Delena forever! Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder may have broken up, but fans aren't quite ready to let go of their relationship — or the relationship between their Vampire Diaries characters, Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore. The costars, and real-life exes, beat out four other beloved TV couples for the "Favorite Onscreen Chemistry" honor at the 40th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Taking the stage to accept their trophy, 24-year-old Dobrev and 35-year-old Somerhalder riffed adorably on their shared history. "Wow, this is crazy!" the actor began. "Can you believe this is almost five years in the making?"

Related: PHOTOS: What the stars wore to the 2014 People's Choice Awards

"You're right, yeah!" his ex replied. "But you know what's funny, Ian, is that at the beginning of the show, Elena actually hated Damon."

"You were hooking up with my brother!" he retorted, referring to Elena's epic romance with Stefan Salvatore (played by Paul Wesley).

"Well, you killed my brother," she countered.

Related: PHOTOS: Nina and Ian, the way they were

Eventually, of course, their characters moved past those obstacles and fell in love. As did Somerhalder and Dobrev. 

"We started dating in real life," he said.

"And then we broke up in real life," she added. 

"And yet our characters are still dating on the show," he continued.

Related: PHOTOS: Costar couples

"It's a good thing it's not awkward!" she joked, as the two shuffled away from each other and pretended to look uncomfortably at the floor. Then, amid laughs from the crowd, they held up their trophy and quipped, "It's a good thing we have chemistry!"

Fans roared with approval, and Somerhalder pulled his ex close to give her a kiss on the cheek.

The couple, who took their romance public in 2011, called it quits last May after more than three years of dating. A source told Us Weekly exclusively at the time that they would "continue to work together and remain best friends, which is where the relationship started."

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