you penn badgley© Photo: Netflix

All you need to know about You star Penn Badgley's love life from his A-list exes to his wife

The Netflix actor has had several high-profile relationships

TV & Film Writer
October 15, 2021

Penn Badgley may have first rose to fame in teen drama Gossip Girl, but the 34-year-old actor is perhaps better known these days for starring as the sociopathic lead in the addictive thriller series, You.

MORE: Gossip Girl's original identity revealed - and it makes so much more sense

As he now returns to screens for the third season of the Netflix original, find out all about the actor's life away from cameras here - including his love life...

WATCH: Will you be watching season three of You?

Blake Lively

Fans of the original Gossip Girl will remember that Penn Badgley's Dan Humphrey and Blake Lively's Serena van der Woodson had an off-and-on-again relationship to rival Friends' Ross and Rachel. However, much to the delight of fans, their chemistry spilt over into real-life and the two actors began dating in 2007, although they initially kept it a secret. 

penn badgley blake© Photo: Getty Images

Penn dated co-star Blake between 2007 and 2010

Sadly though, things didn't work out and they parted ways in 2010 but continued to play their respective roles on the show. Speaking about their relationship to Elle in 2013, Penn descried it as "good and bad" and a "learning experience".

The same year they split, Blake met her now-husband Ryan Reynolds on the set of superhero flick The Green Lantern. The couple wed in 2012 and are now parents to three young daughters.

MORE: See the Gossip Girl cast and their real-life children

MORE: Gossip Girl actor Ed Westwick returns as Chuck Bass - and fans are thrilled

Zoe Kravitz

After his separation from Blake, Penn dated Batman actress Zoe Kravitz from 2011 to 2013. It's now known how the couple met, although Penn became close to Zoe's famous father, Lenny Kravitz, during the course of their relationship. He told US Weekly: "We get along, we talk music. [Lenny] took me to Harlem to see this little jazz show in the back of a church."

© Photo: Getty Images

Penn dated Batman actress Zoe Kravitz from 2011 to 2013

Their break-up was reported to have been amicable and due to conflicting schedules. Big Little Lies star Zoe went on to embark on a relationship with Channing Tatum following his split from Jessie J.

Domino Kirke

Penn met his wife, Domino Kirke, a singer and doula to A-listers like Amy Schumer, in 2014. The pair tied the knot three years later in early 2017 at a simple courthouse ceremony.  Last August, the happy couple welcomed their first child together, a son named James. However, during their relationship, the couple have suffered two devastating miscarriages. Meanwhile, Domino is also a doting mum to her ten-year-old son, Cassius, whom she shares with her ex-partner Morgan O'Kane.

© Photo: Getty Images

Penn tied the knot with his wife Domino Kirke in 2017

Domino has previously opened up about her relationship with the A-lister. Speaking to Hey Mama, she revealed that when she first met Penn, she didn't expect their relationship to become serious.

"I was sort of getting used to being a single mom, maybe a little too used to it," she said. "I had a really good thing with my kid and we were like this little team. Penn and I were dating, but it wasn't nearly as serious as it is now, of course. I didn't think marriage was in the cards for us.

Meanwhile, Penn himself has said that becoming a father has changed his approach to playing serial killer Joe in the Netflix series, which debuted its third season on Friday 15 October.

MORE: 9 brand new TV shows and films coming to Netflix in October 

He told Access: "The funny thing is I was curious what my new fatherhood, how that would influence my experience with Joe and acting with him, and sometimes it was almost not helpful because I was having such a light and joyful experience — still am — and Joe is so petrified."

He continued: "He's so scared, and of course I can identify with the fear, but he's just so morbid in his obsessive, sort of like self-preservation, primal instinct that sometimes I almost found it harder as a result."

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

More TV and Film

See more