Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester's on-screen love affair as Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass on teen drama Gossip Girl has to be one of obsessively followed TV romances of its decade – what with the passion, conflict and heartbreak all rolled into one.
During their appearance on the hit show, of which Blake Lively also starred as queen bee Serena van der Woodsen, they perfectly showcased the pleasures and pitfalls of young love.
While the six-season show, which also saw You actor Penn Badgley in his breakthrough role, concluded in 2012, ten years later Westwick has spoken adoringly of his former on-screen girlfriend.
'She's an incredible talent,' he said sweetly on the XOXO podcast.
The 34-year-old actor went on to say: 'I miss her dearly. We just had this great chemistry, and we used to make each other laugh and I felt protective over her at times.
'Yeah, she probably made me better.'
He later spoke about how lucky he and his co-stars were to have landed their roles in the show, of which Jennifer Lawrence had auditioned to play Serena before it was given to Lively.
'We were all very lucky, and I think we realised we were lucky.
'We realised how amazing this ride was. I mean, goddamn… It's nice to reminisce,' he said.'
Continuing to dote on Meester, Westwick said: 'I had an amazing time working with Leighton. And people really were taken with that relationship. It means so much to people, which is so cute and funny.'
Last year, Westwick expressed similar feelings for Meester when telling US Magazine: 'It’s hard not to fall in love with Leighton — like, have a part of me fall in love with her, you know?'
It makes sense then that the pair's on-screen romance as Chuck and Blair was actually inspired by their off-screen chemistry.
'You get an actor like Ed Westwick and see the chemistry he had with Leighton Meester, and their scenes just crackled,' Josh Schwartz formerly told Grazia magazine of the actors' connection.
He added: 'So it felt like, here are two people who are bonded by their mutual scheming and the dark side of the show.'
This resonates with what Westwick told E News in the year the show's last season was released.
Speaking of Meester, who is currently filming psychological thriller The Weekend Away, he said: 'I'm madly in love with Leighton, so that's what helps on my behalf, maybe so much that she doesn't even have to be in love with me.'
We're sure it's not just us who want the pair to reunite.
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