Leighton Meester and Adam Brody: A Timeline of Their Relationship

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Leighton Meester and Adam Brody: A Timeline of Their Relationship

Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen forever! Leighton Meester and Adam Brody are the real-life crossover couple that television has blessed Us with. The Gossip Girl alum and the former O.C. star started dating in 2013. Although they generally keep their romance under wraps, the pair have shared sweet sentiments about each other over the years. “I wouldn’t change anything [in the past] because I’m happy where I am now,” Meester told PorterEdit in September 2018. “And I think that’s one of the many wonderful parts of not only having a child and meeting your soulmate, but also, I feel really lucky career-wise, really in a place that I want to be.” The Single Parents star later told Shape magazine in March 2019 that she loves her life at home with Brody and their daughter, Arlo. “I just don’t believe in balance. I think that’s not possible if you’re a working mother — and with single mothers, I cannot even imagine that,” she said at the time. “Some days my husband cooks dinner and some days I do. Other days, I’m too tired and I eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. It’s just the thing we do to make it work.” [jwplayer 6V6wZjEH-zhNYySv2] She added: “I gain a lot more confidence from time with my friends and family — people whom I love, who love me and whom I’ve built relationships with — and that goes for people at work as well. Truly, those things are what make me the happiest and I think that, if I’m doing well on that side of things, then I’m doing well.” Meanwhile, Brody, who welcomed a son with Meester in 2020, revealed a playful detail about his marriage to the Country Strong actress during a 2014 Reddit chat while responding to a fan who asked about their relationship: “I do some stuff, but she does the heavy lifting figuratively. Literally I do the heavy lifting.” Six years later, the StartUp alum gave fans an inside look at the couple’s life with two kids amid the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine. “It’s been a pretty — despite the state of the world — it has been a pretty blissful experience,” he told Entertainment Tonight in October 2020. Scroll down to look back at a timeline of Meester and Brody’s love:

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2007

Brody revealed in March 2021 that he met Meester for the first time when she was on Gossip Girl.

“Josh Schwartz produced both shows and literally the first time we met, that whole cast was eating at Canter’s [Deli in Los Angeles] and I lived at Canter’s for like my entire 20s. And I was leaving, and he introduced all of us,” he recalled on Anna Faris’ “Unqualified” podcast, adding that he “bumped into” Meester over the next couple of years before they reconnected on the set of the 2011 movie The Oranges. “I was seeing someone at the time [when we did the movie]. So, we met kind of through mutual work friends off and on. And then we didn’t get together about a year after that movie when I was single.”

He added: “But I had no idea whether she was a good person or not. And, in fact, kind of assumed she probably wasn’t for like the first handful of years that I didn’t know her, just because, I don’t know, Gossip Girl. Not that I tagged all actresses with that or anything — I didn’t. And I like to date actors. I never believe that stigma.”

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2011

The actors reconnected on the set of The Oranges in 2011. “They were always close and friendly,” a source told Us of the duo’s dynamic. Meester and Brody later worked together again in 2014 on Life Partners.

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2013

Us Weekly broke the news in February 2013 that the Gilmore Girls alum and the Country Strong actress were “hanging out” and dating.

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2013

The pair held hands during their first public appearance as a couple in June 2013 at the premiere of Brody’s film Some Girl(s).

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2014

Multiple sources exclusively revealed to Us in February 2014 that the lovebirds said “I do” in an intimate ceremony in Northern California.

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2014

Meester and Brody walked their first red carpet as a married couple at the Tony Awards in June 2014, just four months after the romantic occasion.

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2015

Us exclusively confirmed in September 2015 that the A-listers welcomed their first child together, daughter Arlo.

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2017

The low-key couple gave their first joint interview in June 2017 and revealed that they love the fact that their iconic characters ended up together in real life and they “occasionally” chat about it. “Once a year, randomly, on our Seth and Blair day,” Meester joked to Entertainment Tonight at the time. “It’s good for a laugh. It doesn’t excite us, I think, because we’re just human beings … but it’s exciting to us that it’s exciting to you. It’s cool.”

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2019

Brody and Meester made a rare public appearance together at the premiere of his film Ready or Not in Los Angeles in August 2019

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2020

Meester revealed in March 2020 that she is expecting baby No. 2, showing her baby bump in photos obtained by Daily Mail.

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2020

Brody announced the birth of the couple’s second child, “a dream boy,” in a September 2020 Twitch video.

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2020

The Shazam! actor opened up about his family’s coronavirus quarantine experience in October 2020, telling Entertainment Tonight, “It’s been a pretty — despite the state of the world — it has been a pretty blissful experience. I know a lot of parents who feel that way.”

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2021

Brody called his wife a “heavenly creature” during his March 2021 appearance on “Unqualified.”

“She’s literally like Joan of Arc. She is, like, the strongest, best person I know. She is my moral compass and North Star, and I just can’t say enough good things about her character. It’s crazy,” he gushed.

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2022

After eight years of marriage, Meester and Brody remain blissfully happy. “They’re in a really great space,” a source told Us in August 2022. “They’re just as in love with each other as when they met years ago. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a decade.”

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2022

The pair made a rare red carpet appearance at the New York City premiere of Brody's FX show, Fleishman Is in Trouble, in November.

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2023

Brody recalled during an April 2023 episode of the “Popcrushed” podcast how he first crossed paths with Meester, whom he met when she was out to lunch with her Gossip Girl costars at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles.

“I was smitten instantly. And I was, you know, smitten for a long time,” he explained. “I didn't get to know her for many years after, even though we even worked together briefly. She's so lovely and she's so sweet.”

The Isabelle actor remembered that his now-wife “remained elusive to me for so long,” noting that he “couldn't get a total read” on her in the beginning. “She was perfectly willing to let that message in the bottle return to sea at several points,” Brody joked.

Several months later, it was announced that Brody and Meester would costar in a new thriller together. River Wild, which dropped a trailer in July 2023, follows the twosome after they are stranded on a whitewater rafting trip and attempt to survive in the wilderness.