Penn Badgley Says That Dating Blake Lively “Saved” Him

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley became one of TV’s most iconic couples thanks to the hit series, Gossip Girl. And while filming the show, the actors also had an off-screen romance that lasted 3 years. Badgley recently opened up about this relationship and explained how Lively ’’saved’’ him during this very challenging period of his life.

He struggled at the start of his journey.

From 2007 to 2012, Badgley portrayed the role of Dan Humphrey, thanks to which, he quickly rose to fame. Yet behind the scenes, the actor wasn’t as fulfilled as one would imagine.

Badgley explained that although the Gossip Girl years were “fun and fast-paced,” he wasn’t in a great headspace in his later twenties. He admitted, ’’I didn’t want to be on television. I was biding time a lot with Dan — I was not invested. And I’m not saying it’s a good thing! I’m saying it’s just what it was.’’

Dating Blake added a spark to his life.

And the 36-year-old actor admits that what kept him well-grounded during those challenging times was his romance with co-star Blake Lively. He believes that Lively’s healthy lifestyle was a good influence on him, especially during that challenging time.

In fact, Badgley acknowledges that as the show was at the peak of its popularity, there were many temptations surrounding him, as he explained, “Our relationship, in some ways, saved me from forcing myself to go down that road.”

Success didn’t bring him joy.

Speaking on fame and wealth, the You actor shared, ’’I was presented with the universal truth that not only does it not make your life better or easier, it actually can greatly complicate things and make you quite unhappy."

Having said that, Badgley took a moment to make clear that he did not get to a point where he would harm himself. Nevertheless, he admitted, “I was certainly in despair.” He describes what he went through as “nothing short of a spiritual crisis.”

Blake admitted that their romance was complicated.

In her turn, the 35-year-old Lively opened up about dating Badgley in her twenties and the obstacles that it presented. She explained back in 2017, “We were just afraid of how our personal lives overlapping our work life could be perceived by our bosses.”

She noted how her romance with Badgley was a case of life imitating art, saying, ’’I was wearing the same clothes and doing fashion shoots, and dating the same person that my character was dating.’’

Both actors have now found their way to happiness.

Both stars are now happily married to their significant partners. Lively tied the knot to Ryan Reynolds in 2012 and they recently welcomed their fourth child. And Badgley is currently married to singer Domino Kirke with whom he has a boy as well as a 14-year-old son from her previous relationship.

Penn and Blake aren’t the only actors who fell in love on set, here are other on-screen couples who had an off-screen romance.

Having said that, other co-stars had the opposite experience and admitted to having had uncomfortable moments while acting together. Discover who they are in our previous article.