16 February 2023 , 00:36
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Penn Badgley has opened up on his relationship with Blake Lively and shared his fond memories of their time together.
The star of Netflix hit series You and the A Simple Favor actress began dating while working together on Gossip Girl. While their characters enjoyed an on-again, off-again relationship on-screen, the pair enjoyed a romance behind the scenes too.
Their partnership was first rumoured in 2007, but came to an end in 2007, but 36-year-old Penn has now credited Blake - who recently welcomed her fourth child with Ryan Reynolds - for helping keep him on the straight and narrow.
Looking back on their time together and his appearance on Gossip Girl, Penn called it "fun and fast-paced," but also described how it had a "dark undercurrent that would bottom out in my later 20s".
Penn Badgley has praised his ex Blake Lively (Getty Images)However, he was keen to stress that didn't relate to substance abuse and credited the actress with helping him avoid that path.
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Speaking to Variety, he said: "To be honest, I never struggled with substance. Blake didn't drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road."
He went on to confess the darkness was formed from "nothing short of a spiritual crisis".
Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, and Blake Lively in Gossip Girl (Warner Bros)"Like anybody who experiences some degree of fame and wealth," he continued. "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."
Penn described how while he felt lost, his feelings were never suicidal.
He added: "It had to do with 'Do I matter? Do I matter? Does anything matter?' These questions do inform how we feel. The answer that I came upon was 'Yes.' I think we all have to come to that."
Blake and Penn split in 2010 (PGfrb6)Penn his now happily married to Domino Kirke, with whom he shares his son James, two, and stepson Cassius Riley, 14.
He has also found happiness through his Baha'is faith and his career. The latest series of You recently hit Netflix, much to the show's fans' delight, and he hosts the popular podcast called Podcrushed.