As Dan and Serena walked down the hall Gossip girl, Penn Badgley and Blake Lives called quits long before the 2012 series finale.
“I found out on the set of the season 2 finale that Blake and Penn had broken up months before,” the executive producer said. Joshua Saffron toward Vanity Fair in August 2017 when celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his show’s debut. “He hid his breakup from the crew, which he can’t do now. I don’t even know how he did it. He kept it from everyone which is proof that he’s good as an actor. Because he didn’t want his personal drama to be related to the show.
Us Weekly confirmed in October 2010 that Badgley and Lively had separated after three years together. “He’s a professional,” the source said us in time. “They’re still good friends and hang out on set.”
A year after Gossip girl wrapped, in You star remembers what it’s like to continue creating teenage drama after the split.
“We were very caught up in the event, which was a six-year endurance test. Our relationship was part of that and helped us overcome it,” said Badgley. Ella in 2013. “I mean, like anything that’s important, there’s good and bad and it’s a learning experience.”
She added that it can get “warped” when you’re on a hit show and dating your costar.
“As an actor who is dating, you have the opportunity to have something extraordinary, because you don’t have a schedule or an organized lifestyle. But then it can also be very warped,” he said. “You have an on-camera romance, which I usually don’t have a problem with. There are complications that come to mind. I’ve found it’s a double-edged sword. But I like to hold it.
Despite the on-screen drama between all the characters, Badgley has maintained that he and Lively have no problems behind the scenes.
“We were consummately professional,” he said Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2015. “And I think we should both pat ourselves on the back to get through it. … We handled it.”
Four years later, Chase Crawford remembering the words of his ex-boyfriend.
“Not at all. At least,” the Boys actor responded when Andy Cohen asked if real-life relationships cause drama on set. “The most mature man in the world.”
Badgley and Lively find love – and his name is James! – after the split. The star of A Simple Favor got married Ryan Reynolds in 2012 and welcomed four children – daughters James, Inez and Betty – and four children that they have not yet announced. At John Tucker Must Die wed alum Domino Church in 2017 and she gave birth to son James in 2020. (Badgley is also stepfather to Cassius, Kirke’s son from a previous relationship with Morgan O’Kane.)
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