These days, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are royalty as far as Hollywood couples go, but the Detective Pikachu star and the Age of Adaline actress were once just two friends out on a double date — with other people!
As Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly’s SiriusXM show in February 2016: “We went on a double date. She was on a date with another guy, and I was on a date with another girl — and that was, like, the most awkward date for the respective parties because we were just like fireworks coming across.”
Still, the Critics’ Choice winner said he was glad that the two started off as “buddies.” “I remember it was funny, because for about a year after Green Lantern had come and gone and all that stuff, we were both single,” he said of their shared 2010 film. “I think the best way to have a relationship is to start as friends.”
It’s certainly worked out for the duo. Not only did they go to tie the knot in September 2012, but they have since welcomed three children together.
The pair share daughters James and Inez — born in 2015 and 2016, respectively — and a third daughter, born in the summer of 2019. Us Weekly broke the news of baby No. 3’s arrival in October 2019.
Nearly a year later, Taylor Swift released “Betty” on her Folklore album, sparking speculation that the couple named their youngest daughter Betty — she also sang about Inez and James on the track. In August 2020, the musician confirmed that she “named all the characters in this story after my friends’ kids.”
Ahead of becoming a family of five, Reynolds joked about the couple’s relationship trajectory.
“One of the most common things in the world is making out, having a couple of drinks, and then doing it, and then having a baby. I was perfectly sober for this one, though. I gotta say,” Reynolds told EW in his 2016 interview, after the pair’s second child was born. “It’s amazing.”
As for the Shallows star, she told Vogue in August 2014: “Everything we do in life, we do together. If I’m working on a movie, he helps me with my character; I do the same with him.”
They also famously troll one another on social media: Lively razzes Reynolds about his parenting skills, while he teases her cooking abilities, ranking them beneath pal Jake Gyllenhaal’s.
Scroll through to relive their romance:
July 2010
Lively and Reynolds made their debut as Green Lantern costars at 2010 Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center. At the time, Reynolds was still married to Scarlett Johansson, and Lively was dating Gossip Girl costar Penn Badgley.
October 2010
Lively presented the award for Most Anticipated Movie to costar Reynolds at the Spike TV’s Scream 2010 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The actress called it quits with Badgley in mid-September 2010.
March 2011
The costars posed for photographers at Warner Bros. Pictures’ presentation of The Big Pictures 2011 at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Reynolds filed for divorce from Johansson in December 2010.
April 2011
Lively and Reynolds shared a few laughs during a 2011 WonderCon press conference at Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. “I’m very happy not to be in a relationship right now,” Reynolds told Details in May 2011. “That’s OK. I didn’t plan on it, that’s for sure … but that’s OK.”
June 2011
The stars spoke on stage at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California. The actress was dating Leonardo DiCaprio at the time.
June 2011
The action stars held each other on the red carpet at the premiere of Green Lantern at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood on June 15, 2011. Lively looked stunning in a white floral Chanel dress.
June 2011
Reynolds starred as Hal Jordan and Lively played Carol Ferris in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Green Lantern, which opened in theaters on June 17, 2011. Reynolds’ divorce from Johansson was finalized on July 1, 2011.
October 2011
Dating rumors swirled when Lively was seen leaving Reynolds apartment with him early in the morning in Boston. “Anyone who gets divorced goes through a lot of pain, but you come out of it,” Reynolds told Details magazine in May 2011 of his split from Johansson. “I’m not out of it yet. At all.”
October 2011
Lively visited her boyfriend on the set of R.I.P.D. in Boston on his birthday. She put a big bouquet of balloons on her dog as a surprise.
November 2011
Reynolds was seen leaving his apartment in Boston with Lively and his dog Baxter. “I’ve been with very few people,” Lively told Marie Claire in June 2012. “If I’m not with somebody who really excites or inspires me, then I’d rather be by myself.”
December 2011
The couple spent the holidays with Reynolds’ family in Vancouver, Canada. They held hands while walking through the Granville Island Public Market. “To be around me, you must love food or I’m the most obnoxious person you’ve ever met,” Lively told Marie Claire. “I’m in a big cooking phase. That’s all I’ll talk about.”
January 2012
Reynolds and his girlfriend Lively were seen going for a stroll in New Orleans but tried to keep hidden from cameras. “I’ve been in relationships pretty much since high school,” Reynolds told Details magazine in May 2011. “Some people look at that as a good thing. I think wiser people might see that as a house of cards.”
May 2012
The happy pair visited the Ferry Terminal in Nanaimo, British Columbia. “I don’t want to date someone just to date someone,” Lively told Cosmopolitan in September 2008. “I want to be with a guy who’s going to better my quality of life, better me.”
July 2012
The lovebirds showed plenty of affection for each other while hanging poolside with family and friends over the Fourth of July weekend.
September 2012
Surprise! After enjoying a romantic boat ride in Venice in August, the couple tied the knot at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (where The Notebook was also filmed), on September 9 after a year of dating. Lively wore a wedding gown designed by Marchesa and her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel were all in attendance. Half-sister Robyn Lively also recreated her Teen Witch dance from the late ’80s film classic.
December 2012
Ooh la la! The newlyweds shared an adorable smooch during a trip to Paris. “They were kissing the entire time,” an eyewitness told Us Weekly. “The locals said hello, but they were only interested in each other.”
February 2013
Reynolds and Lively braved the cold weather together while stopping by the Artisan Bakery in NYC. “Right now, I’m so peaceful,” the Gossip Girl star said in the October 2012 issue of Allure magazine. “I’ve never been happier in my life.”
June 2013
The pair dressed to impress while attending The Sound of Change Live concert at Twickenham Stadium in London. “I was recently asked how my style has changed since I got married, as if I was living under some sort of dictatorship,” Lively said in the September 2013 issue of Lucky magazine. “I’m very lucky to be with someone who has better taste than me,” she added of Reynolds. “We influence each other in different ways.”
November 2013
The couple stepped out for a good cause at the A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Cure Parkinson’s event benefiting The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in NYC.
April 2014
Keeping her man close! The twosome were spotted heading back to their car after grabbing a bite to eat at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver. Back in December, Lively admitted she re-pins pictures of her hot beau on her Pinterest account during an interview with NY Mag‘s The Cut.
May 2014
The couple walked arm in arm at the Met Gala in NYC. The duo later skipped the afterparties to eat hot fudge sundaes with peanut butter sauce at NYC hot spot Serendipity. “Everything we do in life we do together,” Lively later said in the August 2014 issue of Vogue magazine. “I get to share my life with the person he’s become, and we get to grow from there.”
May 2014
Picture-perfect! The couple posed together as they arrived for the screening of Captives at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. “We’ve never gone a week without seeing each other,” Lively said in the September 2014 issue of Marie Claire. “He’s my best, best friend,” she added. “If I could spit out a litter of kids, I would.”
October 2014
The A Simple Favor star announced that she was expecting her first child with the Deadpool actor in October 2014 with a photo of her burgeoning belly on her old website, Preserve.
January 2015
Three months later, the actress gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, James, slightly ahead of schedule. “The baby came early but everyone is happy and healthy,” a source told Us at the time.
Reynolds later praised his spouse for her humor throughout the delivery. “My wife is the real, I mean she is a mercenary,” he told Conan O’Brien in August 2015. “At one point in the middle of the delivery, the doctor’s cell phone went off and she said, ‘Oh, no. Go ahead, take a personal call. Feel free.’ She was cracking jokes in the delivery room.”
April 2015
By April, Lively joked during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she and Reynolds had gone from lovers to adversaries as they began to fight over their daughter’s first word. “We’re total rivals, by the way. I hear ‘dada, dada,’ all the time, and then I walk in the room and he’s like, ‘mama,’” she said. “And I’m like, ’How dare you do that?’”
One month later, they gave the world its first glimpse of their little girl with an Instagram photo of James holding her “dada’s” hand.
February 2016
The glowing parents made their first red carpet appearance together as mom and dad in February 2016 while attending a fan screening for Deadpool.
April 2016
Us confirmed that the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star was pregnant again after she was spotted on set for The Shallows in a wetsuit that showed off her growing baby bump.
Just days prior, Reynolds made a crack about the couple’s sex life while accepting his award for Best Comedic Performance in Deadpool at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. “I want to thank my wife, Blake. Everything I do is to make her laugh, especially the sex!” he joked.
June 2016
Lively gushed about her significant other to Marie Claire in July 2016. “I knew he would always be my best friend for my whole life,” she told the magazine at the time. “That was the biggest thing for me. I’d never known anything like the friendship that I had with him. I could like him as much as I loved him.”
September 2016
The duo welcomed a second daughter, Inez. A source told Us at the time that their visitors to the hospital included Lively’s sister, Robyn, as well as close pal Taylor Swift.
December 2016
Lively, Reynolds and their two daughters made their debut as a family of four in December 2016 to celebrate the Golden Globe nominee’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Proud is a pitiful word to describe how I felt today,” Lively captioned an Instagram photo from the event. “@vancityreynolds The permanence of your impact is undeniable …Always has been, but now we have a fancy [star] to show for it.”
Reynolds opened up about how he knew his wife was “the one” to GQ one month prior. “Probably after the sex,” he teased, adding, “No, we were hanging out at this little restaurant in Tribeca that’s open really late, and this song came on and I was just like, ‘Want to dance?’ No one was in there, so it was just totally empty. And it was just one of those moments where halfway through the dance, it was like, ‘Oh, I think I just crossed a line.’”
January 2017
By January, the twosome were back to glamming it up for the cameras, hitting the 2017 Golden Globes together in their red carpet finest — a black and gold Atelier Versace halter gown for Lively and a crisp black suit with a white undershirt for Reynolds.
That same month, the producer opened up about how his love had helped him navigate Deadpool fandom. “By the time we were in post[-production], we’d been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive. Blake helped me through that. I’m lucky to have her around just to keep me sane,” he told Variety.
May 2017
The couple returned to the scene of their first red carpet — the Met Gala — in 2017. Lively opted for a gold Atelier Versace gown with blue feathers, while her man coordinated in a blue tux and tie.
March 2018
Ever the wise guy, Reynolds had the perfect response to reports of marriage trouble between the pair: “I wish. I could use a little ’me time,’” he tweeted.
May 2018
Reynolds told Mr. Porter magazine in May 2018 that he credited his significant other with helping him to mend his relationship with father James “Jim” Reynolds ahead of his death (Jim lost a long-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2015). “She has a gift for foresight,” he said at the time.
He shared a similar sentiment while commenting on an Instagram photo from Humans of New York in May 2017: “She always responds with empathy,” he wrote of his wife. “She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She’ll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she’s made me a more empathetic person. I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn’t want to remember. She made me remember the good times.”
August 2018
“They have such a solid relationship,” an insider told Us of Lively and Reynolds in August 2018. “They truly couldn’t be happier and more in love.”
April 2019
Lively joked about getting it on with her husband’s Detective Pikachu character, Pikachu. “Is it wrong to say I’d tap that?” she captioned a mock audition video he posted on Instagram on April 10, 2019.
May 2019
The A Simple Favor actress debuted her baby bump in a yellow dress at the Pokémon Pikachu Detective premiere in NYC, revealing for the first time that she and Reynolds are expecting their third little one.
October 2019
Us exclusively revealed that Reynolds and Lively welcomed their third child together over the summer. A source told Us in October that the baby was “about 2 months old.”
April 2020
Lively poked fun at her husband’s hair getting a little shaggy amid the coronavirus pandemic, after he revealed he had a mini ponytail at the back of his neck. “I dare you to forget this every time you see him for the rest of eternity,” the California native wrote via her Instagram Story in April, to which Reynolds replied, “Clearly your birth control doesn’t work, so…”
July 2020
The Shallows star joked that she conceived baby No. 4 after watching a clip from her love’s 2010 movie Buried, which became available on Hulu in July 2020. In the clip, the Canadian actor drinks from a flask with “Aviation Gin” written on it and guzzles it down before a light shows even more gin next to him. “10 years later, it really holds up! Although I don’t recall the aggressive product placement. #Buried,” Reynolds wrote via Instagram.
Lively was quick to comment, writing, “I think this just got me pregnant,” to which the father of three replied, “@blakelively I will be out of the office starting July 22nd throughout the middle or forever and ever. If you need immediate assistance during my absence, please contact someone. Anyone. Otherwise I will respond to your message as soon as possible upon my unlikely return. Thank you.”
August 2020
Swift sparked speculation that Lively and Reynolds named their third child Betty after her song, “Betty” dropped in July 2020. In the track, the artist references the couple’s oldest daughters James and Inez in addition to Betty. A month later, Swift confirmed in a radio interview that she “named all the characters in this story after my friends’ kids” and added, “I hope you like it!”
August 2020
The Age of Adaline actress celebrated her 33rd birthday on August 25, and detailed her food-filled day via her Instagram Stories. In addition to a homemade McDonald’s Egg McMuffin breakfast, the mother of three enjoyed gelato and a cake presented to the birthday girl by Reynolds — and his massive biceps. “Happy birthday to me,” Lively quipped, sharing a series of photos of her husband’s biceps getting closer and closer.
November 2020
“I love being a girl dad,” Reynolds told Access. “I have three daughters, which I never in a million years would have imagined.” The Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place alum noted that he and Lively try to be “as present as possible” while raising their girls.
“We don’t split up like I shoot movies and my wife shoots movies and we go travel all over the place and we just all go together,” he explained. “I think that’s been the best part of it is that we really don’t spend a lot of time apart. I get to spend a lot of time with my girls.”
April 2021
The couple attended a New York Yankees game without their little ones, which they documented on social media. Both actors received new baseball caps that were signed by outfielder Clint Frazier while at the stadium. “Mom&Dad Girl Summer,” Lively wrote via Instagram alongside a series of photos from the night out. “Thanks @clintfrazierr for being my personal stylist. This hat is a vast improvement from the ? I showed up in. After 14 years in NY, I think tonight made me an official Yankee…⚾️?.”
June 2021
Reynolds showed his wife support via social media after news broke of her dad, Ernie Lively’s death. The Shallows star posted a photo with her late father, who was 74 when he died, via her Instagram Story on June 10, with a gold heart emoji. The Aviation Gin cofounder reposted the photo in honor of their loss.
July 2021
The 6 Underground actor gave fans insight into the early days of his romance with Lively during an appearance on the “SmartLess” podcast. “We were friends and buddies, and about a year and a half later, we actually went out on a double date. But we were dating separate people,” Reynolds explained. “We hung out and we always kind of kept in touch sort of casually and, next thing you know, she was going to Boston. I was going to Boston and I said, ‘I’ll ride with you.’ … I was just begging her to sleep with me.”
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard star called their relationship something “out of a fairy tale,” noting things moved quickly between them. “A week later I was like, ‘We should buy a house together.’ And we did,” he continued. “We’ve been together almost 10 years. That’s, like, 45 years in Hollywood terms.”
July 2021
The twosome celebrated the 10th anniversary of their first date by returning to their favorite restaurant, O Ya in Boston. “10 years later. We still go out on our ‘first date.’ But in much more comfortable shoes,” Lively wrote via her Instagram Story.
She added: “If it weren’t for this place. We wouldn’t be together. No joke. No restaurant means more.”
August 2021
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Reynolds and Lively walked the red carpet together for the first time in two years at the New York premiere of his film Free Guy. He gushed to Entertainment Tonight at the time about the key to their marriage. “Well, we like each other,” he remarked with a smile. “Which is a good foundation of any relationship.”
August 2021
The actor thanked his wife for her support after the release of his action film, Free Guy, which earned a sequel just days after hitting theaters in August 2021. “Free Guy wouldn’t be the movie it is without @blakelively,” he wrote via his Instagram Story. “She was essential in every part of the making of this film, creatively and emotionally, and the cameo everyone is talking about was entirely her idea. #WorkWife”
October 2021
When Reynolds announced that he would be taking “a little sabbatical from movie making” after wrapping the film Spirited, his wife couldn’t resist jumping into his Instagram comments section for a little teasing. “Michael Caine did it first,” she joked.
November 2021
Reynolds gushed over Lively while accepting a trophy at WSJ. Magazine‘s Innovator Awards, held in New York City. “I want to thank my wife, Blake,” he said during his speech. “She is a genius. She’s a renaissance woman. And she pushes me in ways I never imagined I’d be pushed.”
November 2021
The jokesters shared a snap from their hiking date, but Reynolds cut out most of Lively’s face. “I recommend a walk in the woods,” the Red Notice star captioned the Instagram Story.
Though Lively was barely in the frame, with only one eye showing, the Deadpool actor pointed out that he left her “earrings in frame.”
The Betty Buzz founder reposted the snap to her own Story. “The best Guy,” she captioned the snap and added a gif of Princess Anna from Frozen looking very excited. She made him repost an image in August when he cropped out her stylish accessories.
November 2021
“We don’t take each other too seriously, but we’re also friends,” the Red Notice star told Entertainment Tonight of his secret to a successful marriage. “Falling in love is great, but do you like each other? That’s kinda the question you gotta ask yourself, you know, going into it. We’ve always liked each other. We grow together. We learn from each other. So yeah, I’m lucky to have a buddy in that.”
November 2021
During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Reynolds pretended to be flustered when host Jimmy Fallon asked how Lively and the kids are doing. “You know, they’re all good. Blake’s — no personal questions, by the way. But Blake is great. The sex is totally normal,” he said. “Hey, hey, hey! Pump the sex brakes, Jimmy. I asked no personal questions, and you’re going right in on it, all right? Barbara Walters, easy.”
December 2021
Lively showed her support for Reynolds via social media after the release of his Pelton ad. “My uterus is exploding 🙂 @vancityreynolds may you always dream big,” she wrote via Instagram while sharing a clip of the new commercial.
In the video, Reynolds clarified that the exercise bike is very good for one’s health despite the fact that Chris Noth’s character on the Sex and the City spinoff, And Just Like That, died on the show after taking a ride on the bike. Noth appeared in the commercial — alive — and playfully joked about Mr. Big’s demise.
“To my mister, who always goes BIG or goes home. I love you so much,” Lively wrote in a message to Reynolds on a box of Magnolia Bakery treats in celebration of the successful ad. “But not as much as Peloton loves you. Xo Serena Bradshaw.”
February 2022
“Find me a better friend. 
: I’ll wait …,” Lively captioned a sweet selfie of the couple laughing together via Instagram.
February 2022
The couple got cozy at the New York City premiere of Reynolds’ movie The Adam Project, sharing a kiss before the actor walked the red carpet, per an eyewitness. Lively greeted guests and chatted with friends, and the twosome later joined Reynolds’ costars at an afterparty to celebrate.
May 2022
The couple, who served as co-chairs at the 2022 Met Gala, couldn’t stop smiling as they walked the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lively, for her part, stunned in an Atelier Versace gown inspired by New York City while Reynolds sported a traditional tuxedo.
May 2022
Reynolds revealed during season 4 of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman that he follows his wife’s lead when it comes to parenting. “Blake runs the show,” he explained. “I would kind of really phone things in if it wasn’t for her. [She has] higher standards.”
The Aviation Gin founder joked that he would “never” let Lively “go visit her family” out of town and get stuck with all three kids. “If I was just with the girls, I think I would find it pretty exciting at first,” he confessed. “And then there would be — with three girls [it’s a lot]. So, that division of labor is very important.”
May 2022
The Gossip Girl alum admitted that she once borrowed Reynolds’ clothes for a photo shoot. For the first ad for her Betty Buzz mixers, Lively told Vogue that she raided her husband’s closet and “put on his favorite coat … and his jeans and T-shirt.”
She even posed in the “same chair” and “same spot” that the Deadpool star used for his Aviation Gin ads.
June 2022
The couple attended Taylor Swift‘s panel at Tribeca Talks for All Too Well: The Short Film in New York City. They watched their pal and stars Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink discuss the project.
June 2022
Reynolds and Lively share “this unbreakable bond as a couple,” a source told Us exclusively. The two actors are “still head over heels for each other” as they approach their 10-year wedding anniversary. “They’re very secure in their relationship and committed to each other for life,” the insider said.
August 2022
“I remember seeing Blake and saying, ‘I have bad news and I have really bad news. The bad news is I slipped into someone’s DMs again. The really bad news is that I might have bought half of a fifth-tier national football league in Wales,” the actor recalled of telling his wife about his newfound friendship with Rob McElhenney during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
At the time, Reynolds joked about Lively’s reaction, adding, “[It was] not good. Not great, we’re still working through that one.”
August 2022
The Adam Project star took to Instagram to celebrate his wife turning another year older.
“Happy Birthday, @blakelively. You’re spectacular. I’m not sure if you were born or invented. Also, thank you for urging me to leave the house every now and again,” he wrote via Instagram alongside a carousel of pictures of the couple.
August 2022
Reynolds shared a photo of a date night days after Lively’s birthday.
