Blake Lively covers the March issue of Elle Magazine. I feel like she hasn’t done many magazines in the past year…? Maybe something last summer, but it’s nice that she doesn’t over-saturate the market with mag cover after mag cover, interview after interview. Blake knows the value of a little mystery. Blake knows the value of parceling out gossip nuggets to the bigger media outlets. Of course, Elle is not Vogue. But Elle still has millions of readers, and it’s one of the major fashion/beauty mags out there. This was a smart cover for Blake to do.

As for the photo shoot – it’s nothing special, although Blake’s crazy body is on full display. I’m sure the photo where she’s wearing the red swimsuit will get a lot of attention, but look at the shot of Blake in those skin-tight black pants. THAT ASS. My goodness. Anyway, you can see Elle’s slideshow here, and here are some highlights from Blake’s interview:

Blake on boyfriends: “I’ve had four boyfriends in my whole life,” she tells the mag, adding that she doesn’t sleep around. “I’ve never been with anyone that’s not a boyfriend. I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was 17.”

On “dates”: “I’ve never gone on a date. Maybe I’m too shy,” she says. “If I’ve ever had a man in my life, it’s because I know him well, and he really means something to me. I don’t take that stuff lightly. I’d rather be by myself than be spending any time or energy on somebody that I didn’t feel sure about.”

On her French-flavored summer romance with Leo DiCaprio: Lively, who next stars in the gritty flick Savages, plays coy about her summertime 2011 romance with DiCaprio, 37, with whom she was first photographed in Europe. The actress tells ELLE she was already living in the south of France for the summer, renting an apartment and enrolling in a month-long French language course. “I was in school every single day!” Lively explains. “I’d get off, and, you know, we’d go on a boat in my harbor in my little village, and there’d be people hiding in a bush. Then people said, ‘There’s photos of you coming out of some hotel.’ I was on a school field trip! And my friend at the time,” she says, without naming DiCaprio, “joined the school field trip, and we were walking down the street.”

Getting hit on: “I had a few strangers hit on me!” she marvels. “Some guy acted like he liked my hat. Another guy acted like he liked my shoes!” They’re staring at your derrière, saying, ‘Hey, I really like your hat.’ Come on, dude!”

On not having a stylist: “When I’m going to an event, I’ll send Christian (Louboutin) a picture of my outfit and say, ‘What shoes do you think I should wear with this?’”

On kids: “I hope to have a few girls one day. If not girls, they better be trannies. Because I have some amazing shoes and bags and stories that need to be appreciated.”

On a report that she and Ryan Reynolds are looking for an apartment on Fifth Avenue: “Newspapers say a lot of stuff, don’t they? Though I wish I could afford half the places that I hear I’m looking at. Sign me up!”

[From Us Weekly, Elle Magazine]

What is with women talking about the sexual orientation of their real or imaginary children? Dame Gwyneth was yammering on and on about Apple hopefully being a “lipstick lesbian” and now Blake is dropping the word “tranny” to describe her dreams for sons who love clothes?

As for the whole “four boyfriends” thing – sure. She’s had four boyfriends. She’s only slept with four guys. I guess I believe her…? The question I have isn’t about the number as much as it’s about the timing and potential overlap. Like, WHEN did she first sleep with Leonardo? Was it when she was still with Penn Badgley? Also: “I’d rather be by myself than be spending any time or energy on somebody that I didn’t feel sure about.” The voices in Jennifer Lopez’s head just started hissing.

Photos courtesy of Elle magazine, slideshow here.

Several weeks ago, a particularly interesting piece of casting news broke – Blake Lively had been cast in a lead role in a Steven Soderbergh-directed film. It was believed that Blake was Soderbergh’s choice to play a pill-popping military wife in The Side Effects, and the cast was rounded out with Channing Tatum (as Blake’s husband) and Jude Law (as Blake’s therapist/lover). It would have been a really big deal for Blake, if she delivered even a solid-to-good performance in a Soderbergh film. Unfortunately, last week, everything seemed to fall apart. Producers went public saying that Blake was not cast in the role, had never been officially cast, and that the film could not be financed with Blake in the lead role. What happened? It’s up for debate. Some blame producers, some blame Soderbergh’s unconventional casting habits, some blame Blake’s history as a not-so-stunning actress.

Whatever happened, it does look bad for Blake, though. And it looks even worse now – Blake is officially OUT. Guess who’s in the role now? Rooney Mara. There isn’t an “UUUUUGGGGHHH” big enough.

In her first lead role since her Oscar-nominated turn in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Rooney Mara has just committed to starring in Side Effects, the Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller. Mara will replace Blake Lively in a film that also stars Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Mara plays Emily Hawkins, a sexy but unsettled young woman who is taking serious amounts of prescription drugs to deal with anxiety and depression surrounding the pending release of her husband from prison. Her husband has been in prison for three years and after taking a new medicine she was prescribed, she unknowingly murders her husband and stands trial for murder.

Scott Z. Burns wrote the script, and Open Road will distribute in the U.S. It looked like Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures would be financier, but I have been hearing that is a bit shaky. Greg Jacobs and Lorenzo di Bonaventura are producing. Shooting begins in April.

Since her breakout performance as Lisbeth Salander, Mara has been courted for several major roles, including the female lead in the Kathryn Bigelow film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. That film clashed with her promotional schedule on Dragon Tattoo. Mara is currently in Tokyo promoting the film.

[From Deadline]

So, is that it? Rooney Mara is “better” than Blake Lively? Rooney is a better actress, sure. But I simply LIKE Blake more. Blake is a professional, she carries herself like a young actress who is simply happy to work, and Blake’s interviews don’t make me want to punch her in the face. I hope Steven Soderbergh likes being disrespected by an entitled, snotty little girl, because Rooney Mara has no appreciation for the opportunities she’s had as an actress, and she has a history of being an unprofessional brat. Also, I don’t buy Rooney as capable of playing “sexy”. She’s milquetoast, asexual and bland.

Sigh… I was really hoping Rooney wouldn’t “happen” in Hollywood, but she ended up with an Oscar nomination (BEST ACTRESS?!?!!?) and now this. It’s so depressing when people with terrible personalities succeed in life.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are new photos of Blake Lively at two events yesterday – one with Mayor Bloomberg of NYC, who made some kind of mayoral proclamation for Gossip Girl’s 100th episode. I guess they get special attention because Gossip Girl is one of the few shows set in NYC that actually shoots in the city? Probably. And plus, His Honor just loves Gossip Girl. There are also photos of Blake (and Chloe Moretz) at the launch of Jason Wu’s line for Target. It seems like kind of a budget, down-market event for Blake, but I’m guessing she did as a favor to Jason Wu, whom she wants to develop a relationship with. I’m not really loving Blake’s Jason Wu outfit, though – it doesn’t do anything for her, or maybe I’m just not used to seeing her T&A so covered up. Who are you, Blake?

Meanwhile, the tabloids managed to find another angle on the boringness that is Blake and Ryan Reynolds. According to In Touch Weekly, Blake is totes jealous of Ryan’s continuing relationship with Scarlett Johansson:

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds had their first big fight after she put her foot down over his still-close relationship with ex-wife Scarlett Johansson. Although Blake’s rep denies the fight, “Ryan said Scarlett will always be a part of his life no matter what,” says an insider, adding Ryan accused Blake of being insecure.

“She stormed out, furious!” the source claims.

After Ryan’s take-it-or-leave-it stance, Blake has been trying to set up a dinner with ex Leonardo DiCaprio out of revenge.

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

One, I don’t even think Ryan and ScarJo are even that close any more. I mean, they weren’t even that close when they were married, why start now? Two, Blake really doesn’t seem like the jealous type. She doesn’t seem like the girl who will “demand” that her boyfriend stop spending time with someone. Three, don’t even give me BLEO hope. I miss Bleo. Bleo is never going to happen again, is it?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

OH NOES. The girl with the golden PR moves has fumbled! Several weeks ago, the casting rumor mill went into overdrive and there were major claims that Blake Lively had scored a lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, The Side Effects. Blake was alleged cast as a woman struggling with addiction, torn between her veteran husband (Channing Tatum) and her shrink (Jude Law). It was a juicy, meaty role, and Blake would have been required to do some heavy lifting, acting-wise. The speculation about the casting caused consternation – why Blake? Why Steven Soderbergh? WHY? Well, things just got more complicated. As it turns out, the film studio producing The Side Effects, Annapurna, has just dropped out, and rumor has it they dropped out because of Blake’s alleged casting. What makes it even worse is that now it seems like Blake’s casting is back to just being a “rumor” not a fact.

Call it a troubling side effect of the proliferation of casting rumors. According to Variety, film studio Annapurna has dropped out of its commitment to finance Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming psychodrama thriller, “Side Effects.” According to the Playlist, the studio balked at Soderbergh’s rumored casting of Blake Lively as a pill-addicted woman at the center of a love triangle between her doctor and ex-con husband. The two men, according to recent reports, will be played by Jude Law and Channing Tatum, respectively.

The film is still set to be distributed by Open Road Films, but will need to find new cash for production; Variety reports that it should be able to do so at Sundance.

Both Law (“Contagion”) and Tatum (“Magic Mike,” “Haywire”) have worked with Soderbergh before, but this would be Lively’s first time with the director. Then again, as producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told The Huffington Post this week while talking about his new film “Man on a Ledge,” the casting was just a rumor — and, as is now evident — rumors can often hurt a film in pre-production.

“We don’t have any cast set yet. We’re definitely very interested in those actors, but there’s nobody set,” he said. “It’s a little frustrating because it can often spoil the process a little bit. When things become public in general, they’re harder to manage. As a producer it becomes more complicated. A lot of the rumors are false and people are disappointed when you actually hire the person you wanted. It’s a little problematic, it’s something you have to live with.”

Variety reports that Annapurna dropped out of the film Friday, days before di Bonaventura denied the concrete casting, making clear the tangible effect on production that can be wrought by the rumor mill. That the casting rumors started weeks ago, without a public correction, is less an accident than a now-damaging concession to the web’s insatiable appetite.

“I used to try to correct it all the time, but no one cares when you try to correct it in my experience,” the producer said. “Whatever the better story is, I guess if the correction is the better story, they’ll go with that, but if they like the rumor better than your correction, they’re going to stick with it.”

Soderbergh has always made sure to make films his own way, and Lively would be one of his less off-kilter leading lady choices. She is an accomplished screen actor, with a starring role in “Gossip Girl” and supporting parts in dramas like “The Town,” while the director has cast porn star Sasha Grey in an art film, and his current film, “Haywire,” stars Gina Carano, a former MMA star.

He’s also not afraid to pull out of projects. Soderbergh spent years developing Brad Pitt’s “Moneyball,” only to walk away when that film was not heading in his preferred direction.

“If I can’t do a film the way I want to do it, then I don’t want to do it,” he recently told the Star Ledger. “On ‘Moneyball,’ the way I wanted to tell the story was very unorthodox. It was very carefully planned out, but it required a real leap of faith on the part of Brad and the part of the studio. And, you know, in the end, it’s their money and it’s their call.”

[From HuffPo]

That’s pretty rough for Blake – she can’t headline a film without it causing major financial difficulties and controversies. Does this mean the film will be recast in total? Does it mean that only the lead role will be recast? Does it mean that although Blake’s PR game is spectacular, she still can’t headline a film in the eyes of Hollywood producers and studios? Considering I – and nearly everyone else – balked at the idea of Blake headlining a Steven Soderbergh film, I’d say it’s just that people don’t buy her as a lead actress in films yet. They’re content to let her play “the girl” in big-budget films, but she doesn’t get to headline yet.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Back when Ryan Reynolds was married to Scarlett Johansson, Ryan spent the spring and summer of 2010 down in New Orleans filming The Green Lantern. Blake Lively was the “love interest” in that film, and there were rumors (vague rumors) that Blake and Ryan might have gotten very close during filming. As I said, Ryan was with ScarJo then, and Blake was with Penn Badgley. Both Penn and ScarJo were often in New Orleans to see their significant others, and while there were rumors that Blake was “baking cupcakes” for Ryan, most people thought that Ryan didn’t screw around on Scarlett. Months passed, and Ryan and Scarlett split up and Blake ended up spending time as Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend, only to dump him (?!) and run full speed to Ryan.

Here’s the question, though: given the fact that Ryan and Blake seem so loved up so quickly, does it make you feel differently about the first round of rumors when both were attached to other people? Is it possible that Ryan and Blake’s love affair actually began in the summer of 2010? Well, whatever happened, it seems like New Orleans might be a special place for them, because People Mag is reporting that Blake and Ryan spent a long weekend in NOLA. Getting ice cream and sex-filled doughnuts.

After being seen all cozy together last year in New York and in Boston, followed by the couple’s holiday visit with his family in Vancouver, it seemed some distance could have possibly developed between Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.

Had the romance Gone South? Sure enough – to the Big Easy, where the Reynolds, 35, and Lively, 24, were spotted this weekend all over New Orleans, the very city where they had shot The Green Lantern.

On Friday, an eyewitness saw the two at the Creole Creamery, a cute, Uptown ice cream parlor.

“Ryan comes in here sometimes when he’s in town,” said the observer, adding: “They seemed to want their privacy and sat close together in a corner of the store while they were eating and talking. They did leave the store holding hands, though – super sweet!”

According to another sighting on Twitter, Friday included the couple’s visit to the Café du Monde, a French market stand famous for its coffee with chicory and its donut-like beignets.

When the stars were promoting Green Lantern last summer, both spoke of their love of New Orleans, which Reynolds called “one of the most exciting, incredible communities in the world. … You’re going to hear some of the best jazz music, eat some of the best food and see some of the best entertainment in the world.”

Added Lively, “You could spend your life trying to uncover all the treasures in New Orleans and not even scratch the surface.”

[From People Magazine]

So have they returned to the city where their love initially blossomed, or did they just decide to take a little vacation to a city that they both love? I don’t know what to think. Maybe they just wanted to get away from their constantly warring dog friends.

Photos courtesy of Fame, Pacific Coast News.

From the very beginning of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ torrid affair, it was immediately obvious who the REAL stars were – the dogs. Ryan is so vanilla, and Blake is so… Blake. But their dogs are awesome. And the dogs often make it into the paparazzi shots too. Ryan’s beloved puppy is a golden retriever mix named Baxter – Blake was even photographed walking Baxter in NYC a month ago. Blake’s puppy is a Maltipoo named Penny. Penny is adorable and probably weighs about five pounds, if that. Five pounds of pure rage and puppy jealousy, apparently. According to the Enquirer, Penny is totally a diva, and she doesn’t like sharing her mom with that bastard Baxter.

Love may be in the air for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, but their dogs are at each other’s throats! Blake’s pint-sized Maltipoo, Penny, is used to being the center of attention and hates it when her owner showers Ryan’s friendly golden retriever mix, Baxter, with affection. Now pals say the war of the dogs has escalated to the point where it’s affecting the couple’s sex life!

“Penny is a real diva and is accustomed to getting her own way,” a source told The Enquirer. “She’s having a terrible time adjusting to Ryan and Baxter sharing her turf! Blake constantly spoiled Penny and made her the center of her world. Now, with Baxter as competition, she growls and bares her teeth whenever Blake pets or plays with Ryan’s pooch!”

Initially, Ryan and Blake thought handling the canine conflict would be good practice for dealing with children in the future. But they might never get to that point because the dogfight has spilled into the bedroom!

“They both love to sleep with their dogs on the bed – but Penny wants to be the only pooch in the room,” explained the source. “She tries to scare Baxter away. Ryan and Blake spend so much time trying to break up the feuding dogs, when it’s time to go to bed they’re so exhausted the last thing they think of is romance.”

The source continues, “Blake and Ryan are really in love… they just wish their four-legged friends would get along too!”

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

LOL, it’s just a funny story, and God knows, it might even be true. Penny seems like she could be a diva, and it does seem like it’s always the little dogs who are always trying to start something. Baxter is probably looking at Penny like, “You little bitch, I could eat you with one gulp. STFU!” Here’s why I doubt the story though – because everything about Blake is so manicured and perfect – she would NEVER have a dog who misbehaves. NEVER. Baxter, meanwhile, always seems so chill. Most of the time, I don’t even think Ryan keeps Baxter on a leash – which is a sure sign of a well-behaved puppy.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame and PCN.

Blake Lively attended a screening of Haywire in NYC last night. Thank God Michael Fassbender wasn’t there, because I don’t even know what kind of hissy fit I would have if Fassy and Blake Lively were in the same contained place. I would just need to rip her hair out. It’s bad enough that she was in the same contained location as Ewan McGregor!!! What must Ewan think of Blake? He probably likes her. Dudes always like Blake. Anyway, we don’t have access to the red carpet photos – you can see them here. We only some photos of Blake leaving the screening, which I’ve included at the end of the post. I just really wanted to use the old “Chanel Ho” photo for the header.

As you can imagine, Blake did the appearance because she’s just signed on to Steven Soderbergh’s new film – how best to support your new director than by going to see his latest film? We discussed her Soderbergh film last week – she got the lead! And she’ll have to “act” too. Because Blake is a real actress! We’ll see about that, Lively. We’ll see.

I just had to mention this, though – Lainey at LaineyGossip says that Blake’s team has already been reaching out to Academy Awards producers for a possible presenting gig for Blake. Which… would be interesting. I’m surprised Blake didn’t angle herself at the Oscars last year, when The Town was up for a few awards? Maybe she tried to angle and failed – whatever happened, if Blake managed to get a presenter slot, it would be her first time at the Oscars. I have mixed feelings about Blake, totally, but I enjoy talking about her and speculating about her, so I would totally welcome this. I actively WANT to see Blake on the Oscars red carpet. I was to see what kind of assy, titsy crap she wears. Would she wear Marchesa?!?! Or Chanel? And if she presents, I want to see her paired with someone awful, like Bradley Cooper, and see her try to angle it into her advantage. I want to see Blake run into (possible nominee) Leonardo DiCaprio. See – Blake is good for ratings! They should just put a camera on her and I would watch the whole live feed.

Photos courtesy of PR Photos, Fame and WENN.

After all of this time, after all of the man-dangling, the baits, the switches, the famewhorin’, the photo ops, the details dropped into tabloids – it’s all paid off. Blake Lively has something tangible! She got the lead role in a movie! And not some Sisterhood of the Gossip Girls movie either. Blake Lively got the lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s new film, The Side Effects. Soderbergh is an Oscar-winning director known for his established relationships with A-listers like George Clooney, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts. Soderbergh has also been threatening to quit the biz, and as such, he’s been cramming in a steady stream of films – his last film, Contagion, came out in September. His new film, Haywire, comes out this month.

But this is about Blake. Blake got a lead role. This girl’s career path hasn’t always been this bright. I like to think that it was her small-but-showy supporting part in The Town that really changed her career – working “under” Ben Affleck was one of the smartest career moves for her, even though she was the weakest, mumbling link in a very strong film. She followed that up with The Green Lantern, which didn’t do much at the box office, but she managed to get a boyfriend out of it, so whatever. And the last film she worked on was with Oliver Stone, a film called The Savages, where she has a supporting part. It’s a BIG deal that Blake landed a lead, and with Soderbergh, no less.

The Side Effects will have Blake playing Emily Hawkins, “a woman who turns to prescription meds to cope with the anxiety of the upcoming release from prison of her husband.” Joining Blake – Channing Tatum, who will play her husband and Jude Law, playing her shrink. Will Soderbergh coax a great performance out of her? Will Blake officially be a movie star after this? Will she become insufferable? Will she dump Ryan and trade up for someone better and less gerbily? So many questions.

Here are some new photos of Blake at work on Gossip Girl yesterday:

Photos courtesy of Fame, WENN.

We all know what’s going down with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. We know because Blake wants us to know, and because Ryan is to hypnotized by Blake’s biscuits to care about her famewhore ways right now. Blake and Ryan (RAKE) spent Thanksgiving together. They shacked up in Boston together. They’re apartment-hunting in NYC. They vacationed with Muffy & Boomer in Connecticut. They go to ice cream socials and little out-of-the-way bed & breakfasts, where they are photographed mid-makeout session. And now they’ve spent Christmas together in Canada. Us Weekly SOMEHOW managed to get all of the details:

It was a crisp 35 degrees in Vancouver on December 20. So naturally, Blake Lively was all bundled up while picking out a birthday cake with her new boyfriend, Ryan Reynolds, for his dad at Original Cupcakes. But the Gossip Girl star really warmed up when the Canada native selected a few special treats just for her.

“The salesperson told them Jay-Z had come in a few days earlier and bought an eggnog cupcake for Beyonce,” a source tells Us, “So Ryan ordered six of them for Blake!”

That kind of simple romantic gesture is one way the actor, 35, has won over Blake after two months of dating. And sources say Lively, 24, is just as giving.

“She’s making an equal, is not greater, effort to make Ryan happy,” says one insider of the couple. Indeed, a caring girlfriend who whips up homemade dinners and prefers home-movie nights to premieres seems to be an ideal antidote for Reynolds after his rocky marriage to Scarlett Johansson.

“Scarlett treated Ryan badly, so he loves the comfort that Blake provides,” says the source. “It’s like, ‘You were on the cover of Vogue and you want to cook me dinner? Yes, please!’”

While in Vancouver, a Reynolds family dinner was on the itinerary, and a trip to the Granville Island Public Market, where Lively bonded with Reynolds’ mom, Tammy. “Blake and Ryan held hands and Tammy had her hand on Blake’s back as they walked around,” says an eyewitness. “They laughed all the way to the car – and Blake let Tammy have the front seat!”

The duo is making the most of their holiday time together – “They love to sit at home and cuddle,” adds the insider. “Those two are over-the-moon in love.”

[From Us Weekly, print edition]

“They love to sit at home and cuddle.” Just gag me. I know, I know. I’m often accused of thinking, talking and writing like a dude, but really, Ryan needs a much butcher image than cuddlefesting with his Gossip Girl. That being said, I get it. Blake is really putting some effort into this relationship, and I do believe that she and Ryan are truly loved up, in every sense. Now, do I believe that “Scarlett treated Ryan badly, so he loves the comfort that Blake provides”? Eh. I think Ryan is one of those guys who likes “traditional” girls. He wants a girlfriend/wife who will make a fuss over him, cook for him, drop everything to be with him, and act like he’s the center of her universe. Bless her heart, Scarlett didn’t do that. Blake is playing along, though.

Photos courtesy of Fame, WENN & Pacific Coast News.

A few days ago, Leonardo DiCaprio was photographed with yet another “mystery blonde” – you can see the photo here, at TMZ. Leo is still in Sydney, Australia, filming The Great Gatsby, and I suspect this “mystery blonde” is one in a long line of blondes whose names are all a mystery to Leonardo, considering they only get a few hours of his time each night. That’s just a guess – but Leo doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who mopes around after a breakup, chilling on the couch, eating ice cream. Leo likes to go to clubs and check the scene for fresh blondes. And I’m assuming he’s had a steady supply since Blake left him (and probably before she left him too).

Still, at the end of the day, I still find the pairing of Leonardo and Blake much more interesting and compelling than Blake and Ryan Reynolds. My love affair with Bleo is unending, and maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me (hint: I’m not a hopeless romantic), but I don’t believe we’ve seen the end of Bleo. I will cling to anything that gives me Bleo Hope. Including this In Touch Weekly story:

Love is blind, but Blake Lively is keeping her eyes – and options – wide open in her relationship with Ryan Reynolds! According to an insider, her ex Leonardo DiCaprio is still in the picture and she keeps tabs on how he feels about her through mutual friends: “Blake likes knowing she has a safety net,” says the insider.

Surely, Ryan wouldn’t be thrilled to know that Blake has lingering feelings for Leo. But he shouldn’t be surprised. Blake raised brows in October when she immediately rebounded with Ryan after ending her five-month relationship with Leo.

Blake dove headfirst into the relationship with Ryan, but the more she’s gotten to know him, the more she misses Leo – and his A-list lifestyle. While Ryan and Blake recently took a train from Boston to NYC, Leo “whisked her around the world” on private jets and took her on luxurious shopping sprees, snipes the insider.

“She likes dating a high-profile guy and everything that comes with it.”

While a friend reveals Leo’s “not about to chase Blake,” he would be open to taking her back if she and Ryan split.

“Leo still likes Blake, but the ball is in her court.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

*BLEO SQUEAL*

Fingers crossed that some part of this is true. That Blake keeps tabs on Leo, that Leo might feel like there’s unfinished business with one of the rare girlfriends who walked out on him (or at least made it seem like that publicly). Of course Leo would take her back. If she begged! Would Blake beg? I think she might – but only if she got really dicked over by Ryan, which isn’t as impossible as some of you like to think. I don’t think Ryan is an incredibly nice, open and giving man. But maybe he’s changing for Blake. Because she’s that powerful!

PS… Will Blake do the awards show circuit? You know she’ll be invited to present at some of the shows – probably Critics Choice, maybe the Globes. Will she and Leo be at the same awards show? I’m not even going to ask if she and Ryan will walk the red carpet together – they won’t. But I could see Blake going as a free agent, a smiley, happy fashion girl who doesn’t have a care in the — “OH HI LEO!”

Photos courtesy of Fame, PCN & WENN.