The Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder's life looks very different after leaving Hollywood seven years ago

Ian Somerhalder became a heartthrob around the globe when he starred in The Vampire Diaries in 2009 - but he now lives a very different life.

The 47-year-old starred in all eight seasons of The CW show, which came to a dramatic end in 2018. Following the finale, Somerhalder went on to star in the Netflix science fiction series V Wars, although it was cancelled after one season. Earlier this month, Somerhalder said he 'ended up in hospital' from overworking his body during an episode of the Haley on the Go podcast earlier this month. He claimed he filmed '10 or 12 hours of footage in about six days'.

Along with the end of the show, came the end of Somerhalder's acting career, as he decided to retire. He's now a co-founder of multiple businesses, including Brother's Bond Bourbon with his The Vampire Diaries co-star, Paul Wesley, but it didn't come without struggle.

Earlier this year, he told E! News: “I retired from acting seven years ago."

He then told the publication that one of the reasons for his decisions came down to 'financial upheaval'.

“I left an insanely lucrative career in television after financial upheaval from building a business that I didn’t build properly. And due to fraud, it put my wife and I into an eight-figure hole," he told the outlet.

Former co-stars Somerhalder and Wesley still work together, as they co-founded their bourbon business (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Somerhalder is married to Nikki Reed, who played the role of Rosalie Hale in the Twilight movies.

The celebrity couple tied the knot in 2015, while Somerhalder was still playing the role of Damon.

Despite the struggle, Somerhalder revealed that himself and his wife 'climbed out of an eight figure hole'.

"She [Nikki] really negotiated us out of this deal but we sold houses, paintings, cars, watches, everything.”

Now, Somerhalder runs the bourbon company, and extremely hands on in the business, as his latest Instagram post shows him with 'dirty working hands from moving barrels and working in the distillery'.

He also co-found the wellness and supplements brand The Absorption Company with his wife. The name is on the tin, as the companies prime purpose is to 'solve the problem of nutrient absorption in supplements'.

But that's not all with Somerhalder telling the outlet that he was also learning to become a pilot. Maybe we'll be flying on Somerhalder airlines sometime soon!

Somerhalder and Reed co-founded The Absorption Company (Photo by JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images)

Further expanding on why he quit acting during an episode of the Haley on the Go podcast, Somerhalder expressed how hard he worked on V Wars, even moving his whole family to Northern Ontario.

"We Worked really hard on this thing for almost a year, and the show that got turned in wasn’t even watchable," he said.

“I said to the studio, I don’t want to put my name on this. I’ll give you the money back — I’ll give you millions of dollars. And they were like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’”

Somerhalder then filmed “10 or 12 hours of footage in about six days,” after raising more than $6 million to fix the series, in which he claimed himself and his producing partner James Gibb told Netflix they 'needed creative control' over the show.

Despite the show being a 'hit' as Somerhalder said, it was cancelled.

"I pulled the plug. That was it. I walked away,” he said. “These executives are b***ing at each other, and I’m like, are you kidding me? Done. I’m out," he added.

However, it may not be the last time we see Somerhalder on the big screen, as he told PEOPLE two years ago: "I think it's [acting] in the rearview mirror. I do."