Blake Lively revealed 'rule' she and husband Ryan Reynolds made when they began dating

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have spilled the tea on exactly how they're able to boast one of the most loved-up celebrity relationships.

In an unexpected admission, the Gossip Girl actress claimed the key to a successful marriage is setting one particular boundary early on - insisting she laid it out early doors.

The pair have been married for 12 years (Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

For those in need of a reminder of their relationship history, Blake and Ryan first met all the way back in 2010 when they both landed roles in the big-name superhero hit Green Lantern.

By this point, Ryan hadn't long divorced his fellow film-star ex-wife Scarlett Johansson, whilst Blake had recently ended her on-off romance with former co-star Penn Badgley.

In press interviews, the pair later revealed that they'd first struck up a firm friendship on-set, before this slowly blossomed.

By 2011, Blake and Ryan were enjoyed a full-fledged celebrity romance.

A year later, they tied the knot - secretly marrying at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina in 2012 - before going on to welcome four beautiful children.

It turns out, however, that the loved-up couple's relationship isn't always as plain sailing as it looks, and balancing their often hectic work schedule with mum/dad life can sometimes take its toll.

But luckily for Blake and Ryan, they planned ahead, and came up with a means of ensuring that they'd always reserve time to focus on their marriage.

The couple tied the knot in 2012 (rune hellestad/Corbis via Getty Images)

In fact, when they first started dating, the pair decided on one specific rule that they'd have to obey throughout their lives together.

And speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Blake finally opened up on her and Ryan's secret to a happy marriage.

"When Ryan and I got together, we made a rule not to work at the same time," she explained.

"So that we could always prioritise our personal life."

The actor went on to admit that this isn't always as easy as you might imagine, and that it certainly took some time to implement their rule after they'd welcomed their children.

"That takes working really hard when we're not. Just like financial planning and sustaining that; it takes balance," Blake, who shares daughters James, nine, Inez, seven, Betty, four, and another, born in February 2023, with Ryan.

"I'm used to working hard and going and going and going and going and not stopping. Especially, Gossip Girl was six years of my life, and we were sometimes shooting three episodes at once."

And according to Ryan, this secret 'rule' has been working well for them so far.

The couple are parents of four children (Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

Speaking to Access Hollywood, he also lifted the lid on how they manage to keep the spark alive amid the chaos of working in the movie industry and raising four kids.

"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," Ryan said.

"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.”