Penn Badgley and His Struggles Dating Co-Star Blake Lively in ‘Reel’ and Real Life

Ah, young love. It’s sweet, complicated, and if you’re Penn Badgley, happens under the spotlight of one of the biggest teen dramas of the 2000s. Yes, we’re talking about Gossip Girl, the show that not only launched a cast of young stars whose careers are still going strong today, but also an actual IRL romance between Badgley (a.k.a. Lonely Boy Dan Humphrey) and Blake Lively (a.k.a. Upper East Side goddess Serena Van Der Woodsen). 

Badgley and Lively co-starred in the teen drama from 2007 to 2012 and dated from the beginning of the show until 2010. In a recent appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast (via People), Badgley made a rare comment about the time he dated Lively.  

Badgley admitted “it was the struggle” because “when you do a television show, you’re doing it constantly,” and “what starts to happen when you’re in this role for a long time, the aspect of celebrity being a part of it, a huge part of it, there is not enough separation, I think, for anybody.” He added, “You're seen as this person, you're called their name out on the street. You also constantly have to be that person at work.” 

He also shared that he had a difficult time separating himself from his character, Dan Humphrey: “What people seemed to think of Dan seemed to be what people thought of me.” 

After his relationship with Lively, Badgley dated Zoë Kravitz from 2011 to 2013. Then in 2014, he met his now-wife, Domino Kirke. He said, “When we first met, it was immediate. And before we had time to think, I think we wanted to be together in the deepest way.” 

Aside from being known as Lonely Boy and, of course, Gossip Girl (much to the shock and annoyance of long-time fans of the series), Badgley is also famous for his character in the psychological thriller series, You. The upcoming fifth season is the show’s final one, and Badgley is ready to say goodbye to Joe Goldberg.  

In an interview with USA Today, Badgley said, “I'm glad we're putting him to bed. I've been with [Joe] my entire 30s, actually. I was 30 years old when I signed on to do this. I'm going to be 39 later this year.” 

He added, “He's kind of taught me to be a better man. He's failing miserably, but I've had to reflect on all the things I share with him, even if they're not that escalated or that magnified.” 

The ten-episode season of You dropped on April 24 and is now streaming on Netflix.