Gossip Girl Jessica Szohr: Dating Ed Westwick Can Be "Awkward"

USMagazine, Monday, December 28, 2009, 9:28am (PST)

Gossip Girl star Jessica Szohr is usually tight-lipped when it comes to her boyfriend (and costar) Ed Westwick.

But in February's Teen Vogue, the actress, 24, opens up, admitting they began dating more than a year ago after getting to know each other "as friends."

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"It can be a little awkward when all of a sudden [you have feelings for] someone you'd call to talk about a different boyfriend," she says. "But there wasn't a lot of thinking and talking. It kind of just happened. We had fun together, and we were like, 'All right, let's see where this goes.'"

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Westwick, 22, is a "really rad guy," she adds. "He's awesome and smart and talented and adorable, and we make each other laugh."

They don't have any Valentine's Day plans yet — last year they went to Jamaica with costar Leighton Meester and her boyfriend, Sebastian Stan — but Szohr says they'll have fun no matter what they do.

"We go to dinners, have nights by ourselves and fun romantic times in general," she says. "And I like just cuddling up on the couch."

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She says it can be tough when they go out. "Ed has a very unique look, so people don't even question — it's just: 'You're Chuck Bass!'" she says.

She says she also gets her share of attention.

When fans see her on the street, they tell her that she looks "just like" Vanessa from Gossip Girl. The actress usually responds with a friendly, "I get that." (Sometimes, she says people tell her she resembles a certain TV star only "cuter." Of the remark, Szohr says, "What is that supposed to mean?")

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The actress says she couldn't imagine appearing on the show without her costars.

"I've heard horror stories from other actors about egos, people who don't get along, but we're all friends," Szohr says. "There are people from this job who will be in my life for a very, very long time."

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