Secret Ingredient in Penn & Blake's Relationship Revealed!

What's the special ingredient in Penn Badgley and Blake Lively's relationship? Passion.

"Passion is number one," the hunky Gossip Girl star tells Women's Health in the October issue, "and trust is number two. You need to start with a passionate connection, and if you can maintain it and cultivate it, that's most important. Then trust can develop. I have both now, and it's been an incredible thing."

Speaking of ingredients, Penn says he can cook too.

"Earlier this year I went to Thailand and took some cooking classes," says the 22-year-old Maryland native. "I learned how to make classic Thai dishes, which are exotic, spicy and quick and easy to make — and a rare thing to cook for a woman. I made a yellow curry with pineapple. I think pineapple is very sexy. It reminds me of bikinis and the beach."

As for his character — nice guy Dan Humphrey — in the CW series, he says expect some changes in the near future. "I understand Dan, even though he's too nice sometimes. He's just so earnest that he can't help but mess up. But in our third season, he's going to have more fun acting out of character."

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