Penn Badgley says relationship with Blake Lively 'saved' him from drink and drugs

Penn Badgley has opened up about how Blake Lively 'saved' him from drink and drugs during their relationship.

The You star dated Lively from 2007 to 2010 while they were co-stars on Gossip Girl. You can see the pair in action on the show in the video below:

He said it was a time in his life which he said he can reflect on in two different ways.

In an interview with Variety, the 36-year-old said the glass half-full recollection would characterise these days as 'fun and fast-paced'; however, another way to look back on these days is by acknowledging the 'dark undercurrent that would bottom out in my later 20s'.

Badgley said he went through 'nothing short of a spiritual crisis', which he attempted to tackle through travel, Buddhism, meditation and activism.

Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo

He explained: "Like anybody who experiences some degree of fame and wealth, 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.

"I was never anything that I would define as suicidal at all, but I was certainly in a despair.

"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. I don't know how you could come to 'No' and be happy, so we all have to come to that 'Yes' somehow. Probably repeatedly."

Asked whether any of this 'dark undercurrent' was caused by substance abuse - or coped with through substance abuse - Badgley explained that Lively kept him from exploring this route.

"To be honest, I never struggled with substance," he said.

"Blake didn't drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road."

Lively is now married to Ryan Reynolds - and while he may be the co-owner of Aviation American Gin, Lively is teetotal.

Instagram/Blake Lively

Explaining why she doesn't drink, the 35-year-old told InStyle: "For me, I don't drink because I don't like the effects of alcohol, but I like being a part of it. I like being social, I like people coming together.

"Interestingly, I found that sometimes not drinking — it was a little alienating.

"Maybe it's just in your own head, but you don't feel a part of it."

Topics: Celebrity, Drugs, Food and Drink, Sex and Relationships

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey