Adam Brody Reveals He Was "Smitten Instantly" the First Time He Saw Leighton Meester

Leighton Meester and Adam Brody make such a sweet pair. The two have been together for the past 10 years now and it sounds like, for Brody, their romance was love at first sight. "I think the first time I saw her is when I met her at Canters, the deli in Los Angeles," the actor said in an episode of the "Podcrushed" podcast on April 12, 2023, hosted by Meester's "Gossip Girl" costar Penn Badgley. "I used to eat there all the time. I was there on my own with maybe a friend or two, and Josh [Safran] 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."

Still, it would take a while for the couple to get together. "I didn't get to know her for many years after, even though we even worked together briefly," Brody continued. "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. 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 . . . Yeah, she was perfectly willing to let that message in the bottle return to sea at several points."

Eventually, though, things worked out for Brody and Meester. The couple, who first worked together on the movie "The Oranges" in 2010, made their relationship public in February 2013 and confirmed their engagement that November. Since tying the knot in February 2014, the former TV stars have also become parents, welcoming their daughter, Arlo Day,back in August 2015. In April 2020, news broke that they were expecting their second child, and they welcomed their baby boy that September.

Even though the two stars are notoriously private about their relationship, they have been known to give us tiny glimpses of their romance from time to time. See some of their cutest moments ahead.

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Almost a year before the two went public with their relationship, Meester and Brody posed together at an afterparty for their movie "The Oranges" in September 2012.

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Shortly before confirming their engagement, the pair enjoyed a casual stroll in NYC in September 2013.

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A few months after tying the knot, Meester sweetly held onto her man while walking around NYC in May 2014.

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The two held hands as they walked around the East Village back in May 2014.

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Brody pulled Meester in close as they walked around SoHo back in May 2014.

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The pair were all smiles when they attended the Tony Awards in June 2014, marking their first public appearance as a married couple.

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A year after welcoming their daughter, Meester cuddled up to her husband during an LA afterparty for the premiere of his Crackle TV series, "Startup."

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In January 2017, the couple got all dressed up for InStyle and Warner Bros.'s Golden Globe Awards afterparty in Beverly Hills.

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Meester and Brody were all smiles as they attended the premiere event for "Ode to Joy" in July 2019.

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Meester couldn't contain her laughter as she posed with Brody at the "Ready or Not" premiere in August 2019.

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Meester and Brody looked affectionate as they posed on the red carpet at the New York premiere of Brody's show "Fleishman Is in Trouble" in November 2022.