Penn Badgley recalls the ‘struggle’ of dating Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively

Penn Badgley has recalled the “struggle” of dating Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively.

The actor, best known for his role as Dan Humphrey in the hit drama, dated Blake, who played his on-again, off-again girlfriend Serena van der Woodsen.

In addition to their on-screen romance, the pair dated off-screen from 2007 to 2010.

Penn opened up about the difficulties of the relationship on the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast when host Alex Cooper asked if he managed to “separate” Gossip Girl from his real life.

“I mean, that’s a great question because it was the struggle,” the You actor admitted. “When you do a television show, you’re doing it constantly.”

Penn explained that as the show grew in popularity, fans began to associate him with his on-screen character, who he played from 2007 until the show ended in 2012.

“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 told Alex. “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.”

The actor, 38, noted that in the show’s earlier years, he lacked the “emotional maturity to understand how to differentiate” himself from his character “in terms of self-worth”.

Penn then went on to reveal that he had been in a “difficult relationship” before dating Blake, 37.

“I also had a very long and difficult relationship in my teen years,” he said. “That marked me, and I actually remember thinking when I got out of it at 19, I was just like, ‘That was a way to start it all. I wonder what effects it’s gonna have on me,’ you know?”

Penn married singer Domino Kirke in 2017. The couple welcomed their first child, James, in August 2020 and are now expecting twins.