Lonely Boy, who? Just because Penn Badgley is now happily married to Domino Kirke, doesn’t mean the You actor hasn’t had his fair share of past Hollywood romances. In fact, ahead of settling down into wedded bliss, Penn, 33, dated two of entertainment’s biggest starlets.
In May 2007, Penn secretly began seeing his then-Gossip Girl costar Blake Lively. The pair eventually went public and quickly became the “It couple” of the hour. After all, Penn and Blake playing onscreen lovers as Daniel Humphrey and Serena van der Woodsen only made their IRL romance even sweeter.
Despite calling it quits in September 2010, Blake, who is now married to Ryan Reynolds, opened up about her relationship with Penn in a 2017 Vanity Fair interview. “I remember there was one point where we were just afraid of how our personal lives overlapping our work life could be perceived by our bosses,” Blake expressed.
“[But then] we were like, ‘Oh no, that’s exactly what they want.’ They wanted us all to date. They wanted us all to wear the same clothes that we’re wearing on the show,” she continued. “They wanted that, because then it fed their whole narrative. People could buy into this world.”
After Penn and Blake split, the Easy A alum waited nearly a year before jumping into his next relationship. In July 2011, Penn began dating Zoë Kravitz. Their courtship lasted nearly two years before ending things amicably. “It is all good between them,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “It wasn’t a sad breakup.”
Following Penn’s relationship with the Big Little Lies star, 30, he quickly moved on with Domino Kirke. They got together in 2014 and married three years later. “I was sort of getting used to being a single mom, maybe a little too used to it,” Domino, who has a son named Cassius Riley from a previous relationship, told Hey Mama.
“I had a really good thing with my kid and we were like this little team. Penn and I were dating, but it wasn’t nearly as serious as it is now, of course. I didn’t think marriage was in the cards for us,” she continued. “So I was sort of just chugging along, surviving and getting through the days, and I think the difference now is that I’m really living.”
How sweet. We’re so glad that Penn finally met his match.