Leighton Meester and Adam Brody are the real-life crossover couple — a.k.a. Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen — 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.”
Meanwhile, Brody, who wed the actress in 2014, revealed a playful detail about his marriage to Meester 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.”
Scroll down to look back at a timeline of Meester and Brody’s love:
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.”
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.
2013
Us Weekly broke the news in February 2013 that the Gilmore Girls alum and the Country Strong actress were “hanging out” and dating.
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).
2014
Multiple sources exclusively revealed to Us in February 2014 that the lovebirds said “I do” in an intimate ceremony in Northern California.
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.
2015
Us exclusively confirmed in September 2015 that the A-listers welcomed their first child together, daughter Arlo.
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.”
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.
2020
Meester revealed in March 2020 that she is expecting baby No. 2, showing her baby bump in photos obtained by Daily Mail.
2020
Brody announced the birth of the couple’s second child, “a dream boy,” in a September 2020 Twitch video.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
2024
The couple attended the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Meester wore a chocolate St. John gown and Manolo Blahnik shoes while Brody kept it simple in a black-on-black suit.
2025
The couple had a rare public date night while attending the 2025 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica. Meester supported Brody at the February 2025 event, celebrating his nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy after starring on Nobody Wants This.
The evening came one month after Meester and Brody lost their five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in the Pacific Palisades to the Palisades Fire in January 2025. The pair were among the thousands of people displaced after Los Angeles was devastated by the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the Altadena neighborhood that month. There were three additional fires in the area that resulted in 80,000 residents having to evacuate their homes.
Days before the fires broke out, Brody and Meester enjoyed the 2025 Golden Globes ceremony where he was nominated for the same role. Brody ultimately lost the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series, Comedy category to Jeremy Allen White for The Bear.
During their Critics Choice date night, Brody took home the trophy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He praised “darling” Meester in his speech.
“My darling, darling, darling wife, Leighton, thank you,” Brody concluded his speech, after calling his win a “Hanukkah present” to costar Kristen Bell. “Thank you for sharing this life with me and sharing this journey with me and our family. I love you will all my heart.