Rachel Bilson had crush on Chace Crawford
Rachel Bilson and her friend were once "in competition" to attract Chase Crawford's attention.
The former 'O.C.' actress - who has seven-year-old daughter Briar Rose with ex-husband Hayden Christensen - recalled how she once had a crush on the 'Gossip Girl' star and will never forget one night out they had with a group of pals at New York City's Boom Boom Room in the early 2000s.
Speaking to Chace on her 'Broad Ideas' podcast, she confessed: "We were silently battling for Chace's attention. We were for sure in competition for you."
Unfazed, the 'Boys' actor replied: "We were at the top floor where they had the great cheeseburgers. That was a great night, and we all had a blast. New York City was so much fun back then."
Despite trying to attract Chace's attention on that occasion, she was horrified some time later when a sighting of them together sparked rumours they were an item.
Rachel, 41, told her guest: "Someone saw us talking and the press went with, ‘Oh, did Rachel and Chace hook up?'
"My publicist came to me and because at the time I was on a break from my serious relationship, I told her she had to kill the story.
"They printed it, but it had a quote from my publicist that this is completely fabricated and I’m like, ‘Wait that is so mean. I would never want to do that to Chace!'”
But the 37-year-old actor insisted he had no idea about the relationship rumours - but would have been "thrilled" to have been romantically linked with the 'Heart of Dixie' actress.
He joked: "You are so nice. I didn't even realise this all went down.
"I would have been thrilled if they thought we were dating!"
