Blake Lively had to follow 'rule' with husband Ryan Reynolds when they began dating

Despite the pressure of the public eye, celebrity power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds prove time and time again that true love conquers all.

Apparently, the movie star duo can credit one particular rule which implemented during their first few months of dating for seeing their relationship.

And this rule has seemingly maintained its strength 14 years and four children later.

For those unfamiliar with the Hollywood pair's seemingly fairytale romance, Blake, now 36, and Ryan, now 47, first met all the way back in 2010 on the set of superhero hit Green Lantern.

Whilst the movie itself famously flopped when it came to ratings, one positive was the love that had blossomed between the two leading stars.

By 2011, they went public with their newly-loved-up romance - after Blake called off her relationship with Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley.

Flash-forward to today, the couple since tied the knot after secretly marrying in secret at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina in 2012 and welcomed four beautiful children.

It turns out, as we say, however, that the loved-up couple's relationship wasn't always as plain sailing as it looks, and balancing their often hectic work schedule with parenting life often took its toll.

The couple have been together for 14 years. (John Shearer/Getty Images)

But luckily, the couple planned ahead and came up with a means of ensuring that they'd always reserve time to focus on their relationship by deciding on one specific rule that they'd have to obey throughout their lives together.

And speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Blake 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.

The couple share four children. (Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

"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.

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.”