Hilary Duff calls Gossip Girl co-stars “wonderful”

They may have been spotted smooching on the
Gossip Girl set, but there's no need to worry for
Blake Lively —
Hilary Duff and
Penn Badgley are strictly pals. “I’ve known
him for a few years. We lived in the same neighborhood in LA growing up. And
they’re wonderful! Blake has been so sweet to me,” Hilary, the newest
addition to the CW hit’s cast, told
In Touch of her on-screen suitor Penn
and his longtime girlfriend, fellow
Gossip Girl Blake Lively, at JCPenney
and Charlotte Ronson's launch of I Heart Ronson in New York. The actress
also had a chance to work with the show’s guest star
Tyra Banks. “I love her. I’ve done her show so many times. It was exciting and fun to work with
her in a different atmosphere,” Hilary added. The blond beauty will play a
celebrity who attends NYU and rooms with
Jessica Szohr’s character Vanessa in the teen drama’s third season, which premieres on September 14.