Penn Badgley Opens up on the ”Struggle” of Dating Blake Lively During ‘Gossip Girl’

As You comes to an end, Penn Badgley is reflecting on his decades in Hollywood. Specifically, he’s looking back at his time on another massively successful television show, Gossip Girl. During a recent appearance on Call Her Daddy, Penn opened up about dating Blake Lively during Gossip Girl and how hard it was for him to separate his life from his work back then.

When Gossip Girl premiered in 2007, Penn, Blake, and their fellow Gossip Girl co-stars all became instant sensations, which put his romantic relationship with Blake in the spotlight. They reportedly dated until 2010, though their characters Dan and Serena—spoiler alert—were endgame when the show concluded in 2012. Asked by host Alex Cooper if he was able to “separate” his personal life—living in New York City, dating Blake—from his character, who was living in NYC and dating Serena. “That’s a great question because it was the struggle,” Penn replied.

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“What starts to happen when you’re in this one 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 continued. “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.”

This isn’t the first time Penn has reflected publicly on his relationship with Blake. In a 2023 interview with Variety, he said that his relationship with Blake kept him from potentially using drugs during a dark period in his life. “To be honest, I never struggled with substance,” he told the magazine. “Blake didn’t drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road.”

Of course, Blake and Penn are no longer together—and haven’t been for quite some time. Penn is now married to Domino Kirke, and the two are currently expecting identical twin boys. “So now we have four boys,” Penn told Access Hollywood at the You season 5 premiere. He is also a stepdad to Domino’s eldest son, Cassius, 16, and dad to James, 4. “The world needs more good men,” Penn said. “So, you know, the pressure’s on us to raise them well!”