Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were once just two friends out on a double date — with other people.

“We went on a double date,” Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly’s SiriusXM show in February 2016. “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, Reynolds said he was glad that the two started off as “buddies” before things turned romantic. “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.”

Not only did they go to tie the knot in September 2012, but they have since welcomed four children. Reynolds and Lively share daughters James, Inez and Betty, who were born in 2015, 2016 and 2019, respectively. They welcomed their fourth child, son Olin, in 2023.

Scroll through to relive their romance: