Penn Badgley's heartbreaking admission about dating Blake Lively during 'Gossip Girl'

In a surprising turn of events, Penn Badgley has finally broken his silence on his former romantic relationship with his Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively.

Speaking on the most recent episode of the podcast, Call Her Daddy, which released on April 23, the 38-year-old star opened up about dating the 37-year-old actress in his early 20s.

Penn and Blake, who starred on the CW show for six seasons, were romantically involved just like their on-screen characters Serena van der Woodsen and Dan Humphrey.

During the conversation with the You actor, the host of the podcast Alex Cooper questioned whether dating the A Simple Favor actress and living in New York City made it difficult for him to keep his professional and personal life separate from each other, or if it "merged" and intertwined a lot. 

Penn revealed that as he garnered more fame over time, fans started to associate him with his character on the show, expressing that playing the same role for a long time can often blur the line between the character and reality, making it quite challenging to separate your role from your identity.

The Easy A actor also confessed that during his 20s, he didn’t have any emotional maturity to separate his own identity, and sense of self from Dan.

He also went on to reflect on his life prior to dating Blake, expressing that it was a very tough time for him, especially concerning his love life.

Being a child of divorce, Penn opened up that he felt emotionally distant growing up in that environment which reflected in his relationships. 

"I've had a handful of long relationships. And that's about the extent of it. You know, I really did not date," he remarked. "Dating is a bit of a performance."