Adam Brody has been married to Leighton Meester for more than 12 years, but there is still one thing he would change about the beginning of their marriage: the proposal. The 46-year-old actor admitted during Monday's episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that his 2013 proposal to the Gossip Girl actress was nowhere near as romantic as he now thinks it should have been.
Brody stopped short of revealing exactly how he popped the question, but his own review was not exactly glowing. 'I'll spare the details,' Brody said. 'However, rest assured, it was not as romantic as it should have been.'
Adam Brody Gives His Proposal a Brutal Review
Brody joined his Nobody Wants This co-stars Kristen Bell, Justine Lupe, and Timothy Simons for the podcast when the conversation turned to engagements. The O.C. star explained that the romantic part of his proposal was apparently less about what he did and more about how quickly he did it.
'The only thing romantic about it was the speed,' Brody said. 'I proposed pretty quickly into our relationship. We got married fast, but other than that, it was very pedestrian.'
Shepard jokingly asked whether Brody had proposed at Taco Bell, but the actor kept the actual setting to himself. What he did offer was some advice for anyone currently contemplating getting down on one knee.
'At the time, you're like, whatever, but you're going to tell that story the rest of your life,' Brody explained. 'So my advice: Do it, not even just for the moment, but for the story that you're going to tell forever.'
More than a decade later, that is apparently the part Brody would like to rewrite in his love story with his wife. 'I do kick myself a little,' he admitted, adding that Meester 'deserved a little more.'
Fortunately, Leighton Meester Still Said Yes
A pedestrian proposal clearly did not stop the relationship from getting the green light to walk down the aisle. Brody and Meester first met while filming The Oranges, which was released in 2011, and began dating in 2013. They became engaged later that year and married in February 2014. The couple have since welcomed two children: daughter Arlo in 2015 and a son in 2020.
Their romance has remained famously private, but neither has been quite as shy about praising the other. While accepting the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Nobody Wants This in 2025, Brody thanked Meester for sharing both his life and journey before telling her, 'I love you with all my heart.'
Meester offered an equally uncomplicated explanation for their lasting marriage earlier this year. When asked about their secret, she said that simply liking each other and getting along was a big part of it. Despite being a result of a 'pedestrian' proposal, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester's love story certainly looks a lot like an Upper East Side fairytale. The proposal might have been pedestrian, but after more than 12 years of marriage, their love is still going the distance.
