Adam Brody Gushes About Leighton Meester To Her Gossip Girl Co-Star Penn Badgley: ‘I Was Smitten’

It was love at first sight when Adam Brody met his wife, Leighton Meester!

During an appearance on Stitcher Studios’ Podcrushed podcast on Wednesday, the 43-year-old actor could not help but gush about Leighton to her former Gossip Girl co-star, Penn Badgley. All while looking back on the moment he saw her for the first time. Adam recalled that years ago their paths crossed when he was dining with friends at Canters, the Deli in Los Angeles, while the 37-year-old actress was with Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz and her castmates. The second he spotted her in the room? Adam expressed he “was smitten instantly,” saying:

“I think the first time I saw her is when I met her at Canters, the Deli in Los Angeles. I used to eat there all the time. I was there on my own with maybe a friend or two, and Josh [Schwartz, creator of The OC and Gossip Girl] happened to be like taking a bunch of the cast of Gossip Girl through after a prop party for your first upfronts. That’s when I saw her, and, yeah, I was smitten instantly. And I was, you know, smitten for a long time”

AWWW!!! Although The O.C alum was head over heels for Leighton at the time, their love story did not start until years later:

“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. She’s so nice. She’s so good. And yet, and this is to her credit, she remained elusive to me for so long, you know, and aloof.”

However, Adam shared that Leighton has since revealed she also had a crush on him back then – even though she didn’t “pursue” a relationship with him for a long time:

“I couldn’t get a total read because even though she professes to have been interested in me and all those things, not only did she not pursue that, I mean, she was perfectly willing to let that never happen if it never, you know. Yeah, she was perfectly willing to let that message in the bottle return to sea at several points.”

And the reason Leighton did not make a move at first? Adam claimed she said she held back her feelings “because I knew if we did it would be a thing, you know, or like it’s too powerful.” To which co-host Nava Kavelin joked:

“That was actually a line in Gossip Girl and she was just reciting it back to you.”

OMG! Obvi, things worked out for the pair in the end. Fans’ beloved Seth Cohen and Blair Waldorf eventually got married in 2014, and they now share two children! It’s basically a CW show happy ending! You can ch-ch-check out Adam’s sweet comments about Leighton (below):