Paul Wesley Says He’ll ‘Try to Figure Out’ If He’s ‘Team Conrad or Jeremiah’ from ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’

Warning: This post contains spoilers from season 2 of Amazon Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Years after fans of The Vampire Diaries debated Team Stefan vs. Team Damon, The Summer I Turned Pretty has given the fandom a fresh brother-on-brother face-off: Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?

This latest fraternal fracas has been raging since the June 2022 debut of Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Jenny Han’s bestselling YA novels. The book and streaming series — which just wrapped its second season this month — follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) as she navigates the competing attentions of dreamy brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno).

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John Merrick/Prime Video

During the season 2 finale on Aug. 18, Belly officially joined #teamjellyfish by choosing Jeremiah, prompting fans to ask TVD star Paul Wesley, 41, about his own allegiance during an Instagram Live stream that night.

Though he has plenty of experience with on-screen love triangles, Wesley was hilariously blunt in admitting he had never seen The Summer I Turned Pretty, asking about Jeremiah and Conrad: “What is this, Bible teams?”

Earlier this week, PEOPLE caught up with the actor at the Tennis Channel’s 20th Anniversary celebration in New York City and gave him a second chance to weigh in.

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Kharen Hill / CW / Courtesy Everett Collection

Before that, though, Wesley had to explain himself.

“I didn’t even know what that [conversation] was,” he reiterated at the event, which was hosted by his and former on-screen sibling Ian Somerhalder’s Brother’s Bond Bourbon.

Somerhalder, 44, seemed just as confused as he chimed in, “What?”

Wesley explained, “I did a Q&A on my Close Friends list, and someone asked me if I was team — I forget the name — someone or someone.”

When reminded of the “Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah” divide, Wesley continued, “OK, perfect. I had no idea, and I was like, ‘What is it?’ I made a joke and I guess somehow that joke that I made went viral.”

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Stephen Lovekin for Tennis Channel

Wesley confirmed to PEOPLE that even though he “actually had heard” of The Summer I Turned Pretty before last week’s Instagram Q&A, he hasn’t had a chance to determine where his loyalty lies.

“I definitely don’t have a side yet,” he acknowledged. “I’ll try to figure that out.”

Even better, Somerhalder happily offered his services to help make the critically important choice, suggesting, “Let’s watch it together!”

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And the actors, especially Somerhalder, should recognize a familiar face when they tune in — long before he was cast as Jeremiah, Casalegno portrayed a teenage version of Damon Salvatore in a 2015 episode of The Vampire Diaries.

“Oh yeah, he played young Damon! That kid has grown up now,” said Wesley of Casalegno, 23.

Somerhalder echoed, gobsmacked, “He’s got to be a grown dude now.”

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Tennis Channel Live at the US Open airs every morning at 9 a.m. ET on the Tennis Channel, and SiriusXM’s US Open Preview Show can now be streamed on demand. All eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries are available Max, and Prime Video is home to the first two seasons of The Summer I Turned Pretty.

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Source: HIS Education