He credits his wife’s integrity as half the battle.

Much to the satisfaction of those who watched The O.C. and Gossip Girl, Adam Brody (who starred in the former as the lovable Seth Cohen) and Leighton Meester (who stole the show in the latter as conniving socialite Blair Waldorf) have been married for 10 years. During one of his recent interviews, Brody let the public in on the secret to his long-term relationship with Meester.

While appearing on Today With Hoda & Jenna on September 24, 2024, to promote his new Netflix series, Nobody Wants This (in which he stars alongside Kristen Bell—another Gossip Girl connection), Brody revealed that “the magic” of marriage comes down to the person you marry. “Oh, pick someone good,” he responded to co-host Hoda Kotb’s question of how he managed to hit the 10-year mark. “Be lucky and be in love with someone who’s great, and then just kind of listen to them.”

Brody then expanded upon his answer, noting that, of course, marriage does require dedication and effort. “If you’re with someone great, you’re on third base,” he admitted. “Not that it doesn’t take sacrifice and humility—and you have to grow together and you have to be willing to grow because you’re not going to be able to stay 100 percent right where you are. But, if you’re with someone wonderful, I think you’re on third base.”

When raising his two children, Arlo and a son whose name hasn’t been revealed, with Meester, Brody explained that his parenting style is a balance between being involved and letting his kids take the reins. “There is a helicopter, you know, to keep them safe,” he pointed out. “I’m not overly strict, but I see the sharp edges, literally. And their heads aren’t gonna—I want to keep those heads maintained.” As for Meester, he said his wife isn’t strict either.

A week before his appearance on the Today talk show, Brody also opened up about his relationship with Meester while talking to host Dax Shepard on his podcast, Armchair Expert. During his interview, Brody shared that the line between the couple’s personal lives and professional lives are a bit blurry. “We are each other’s managers, and we also have the same two agents,” he said. “We are in each other’s s— in that way, and we even did a movie together a couple years ago.”

Although the two have public careers, Brody mentions that Meester is “charmingly aloof to the business,” keeping her personal life out of the public eye while still nailing her craft on screen. In an article in GQ in 2019, Brody also discussed he and Meester’s preference for privacy. “[Leighton is] more inherently private than I am,” he noted. “We’re homebodies. We don’t go to a lot of things that perhaps we could, and don’t seek out promotion in that way.”