‘Gossip Girl’ Alum Jessica Szohr Engaged to NHL Star

A former Gossip Girl star is getting married to a hockey player. On Instagram, Jessica Szohr announced that she is engaged to Brad Richardson of the Vancouver Canucks. The couple is parents to 16-month-old daughter Bowie Ellie. In the Instagram post, Szohr posted a picture of her with Richardson as she’s showing off the engagement ring, captioning “I said yes.” 

Szohr announced her pregnancy to Bowie in September 2020, and the baby was born in January 2021. “Added a little special sweetness to our family and some new direction to our journey on 1-11-21,” Szohr wrote last year, per PEOPLE. “This journey with Brad and Lexi has been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. To then create a human that is absolutely perfect in our eyes and put a feeling in my heart I didn’t know existed is beyond words. I have all the feels and she is really something special.” Richardson shares an older daughter, Lexi, with ex-wife Lauren Hunt. 

Richardson, 37, made his NHL debut in 2005 as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. He also spent time with the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames before joining the Canucks this past season. One of the highlights of Richardson’s career is helping the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012. 

“You know, it was a lifelong goal that was accomplished,” Richardson said, per Cali Sports News. “Obviously, every kid that has ever played hockey has thought about lifting the Cup and to finally reach that and to do it with guys that you played and grew up together with, you know we were so tight-knit, it was unbelievable. That run we had where it just seemed that nothing could go wrong and we were playing about as good as you can get.”

Szohr, 37, played Vanessa Abrams on Gossip Girl from Season 1 to Season 4 and returned as a special guest star in Season 6. She is also known for being on the series Shameless and has also appeared in films such as Ted 2, The Internship, Club Life and Fired Up! Szohr also appeared in the second season of The Orville, which made the move from Fox to Hulu.