Blake Lively is currently navigating a high-profile legal battle with It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, but she's making sure to shout out the people who have stood by her side through life’s ups and downs in the midst of it all.
On Saturday, June 6, Lively gave a heartfelt shoutout to her longtime trainer and friend Don Saladino in an Instagram Story, but in true Blake fashion, it came with a funny twist. The Gossip Girl alum posted a playful video of Saladino trying to identify scents from her Blake Brown Beauty line’s new Hair and Body Mist.
“I love you buddy,” Lively wrote over the Instagram video. “Despite your inability to identify any notes in our new @blakebrownbeauty Hair and Body Mist. You’ve kept me strong and confident in my body for the past 15 years. Through 4 pregnancies and post partum. Action movies. Major life events. Daily life. You are steady and kind and are made of rock solid integrity. I’m so proud to have you and Mel in my life.”
She ended the tribute on a light-hearted note, writing: “Get you a best buddy who knows your husband’s smell,” along with a smiley face emoji.
Lively and Saladino’s partnership isn’t just a recent Hollywood friendship, their time together spans well over a decade. In fact, Saladino spoke exclusively to Us Weekly back in October 2022 about how he adjusted the actress’s workouts during her fourth pregnancy.
“[Blake’s workout routines] really haven’t [changed] much,” he said at the time. “You know, we’re watching the ballistics a little bit. I know in the first trimester things change a little bit, but all in all, she’s always had a good foundation.”
He spoke further to the outlet on how they kept things safe and effective, saying: “We’re removing any jumping, any ballistics [and] we’re really staying away from the cardio,” he explained. “We’re trying to keep things a little bit more stationary. Always a lot of split stance. We don’t have her laying flat on her back. We’re not putting her legs inverted. So, everything’s really a little bit more upright or on some sort of an incline.”
Saladino — who also trains Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds — emphasized that the focus during pregnancy was never about pushing too hard, but rather about supporting her well-being as a mother.
“Right now [her fitness goal is] to have a healthy delivery and be a healthy human being and be the mother that she wants to be for her family,” Saladino said. “And I think right now that’s her role. She’s trying to turn around and [think], ‘How can she make always make this a little bit easier, that next delivery?"
He continued, "How can she rebound a little bit quicker?’ But she’s really done an amazing job at just saying, ‘This is a beautiful time in my life, I’m going to embrace it. Not going to be too hard on myself,’ and she goes in and whatever we need to do that day, we end up doing.”