If you follow Wrexham AFC’s rise or you’re one of the millions who binge-watched Welcome to Wrexham, you know by now that Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s celebrity glow casts a long shadow over the small Welsh club. But what’s it actually like to spend time around Hollywood royalty in the UK — especially while their personal lives are splashed across headlines? According to someone who knows them well, it’s a lot less glamorous (and a lot more draining) than most fans might imagine, especially as the It Ends With Us lawsuit drags on.
This week, Wrexham executive director and actor Humphrey Ker opened up to The Telegraph about what life has been like behind the scenes as the Green Lantern stars and real-life couple have weathered not just the relentless press attention that comes with their global fame, but the ongoing legal battle with Lively’s It Ends With Us movie adaptation co-star Justin Baldoni. Ker didn’t mince words when discussing how the past year and a half has tested the couple. As he put it:
Ryan and Blake have obviously been slightly through the ringer over the last 18 months with all of that business, and are still going through that in some ways – it waxes and wanes in the public interest but things still continue to rumble on in the background.
The It Ends With Us lawsuit saga has seen Lively and her co-star/director embroiled in dueling lawsuits and tabloid frenzy, leaving the couple with little respite from the drama—even as the football fairytale keeps rolling. One thing Ker did point out, however, is that Wrexham itself offers the pair a rare safe haven—one where their A-list status is less of a factor than whether or not they’re signing a new centre back. He continued:
I think what they love about coming to Wrexham is that no one there gives two s—s about [their celebrity]. What they care about is whether he’ll buy them a new centre back. It’s an escape. But yeah, I feel for them.
For all the stress of Hollywood and the ongoing legal drama, Wrexham seems to offer the A-list couple a dose of authenticity—and a level of peace and quiet they just can’t find in the States right now. Still, don’t expect Humphrey Ker to be jealous of their star status. In fact, he’s refreshingly honest, saying:
I’ve been fortunate enough to rub shoulders with lots of very famous people, and it looks completely miserable. I wouldn’t say they are miserable, but the lives they lead are not for me.
Ker also shared that, like the Reynolds-Lively family, he and his wife are considering a move back to the UK, citing the current state of US politics and the comfort of being closer to family. It’s a reminder that, even at the highest levels of fame and success, real life is complicated, and sometimes all you want is a pint in peace and a little freedom from the world’s gaze.
As for Reynolds and Lively, Wrexham might not solve every problem, but at least in North Wales, they get to be just Ryan and Blake—the club’s owners who are expected to care about the team, not the tabloids. And that’s probably a better, if not at least healthier, kind of celebrity than anything Hollywood can offer.
If you want to catch up on their journey, the hit sports docuseries Welcome to Wrexham just wrapped its fourth season and is available to stream with a Hulu subscription. On the career front, Lively recently starred in the 2025 movie release Another Simple Favor, while Reynolds is gearing up for a busy 2026 calendar with projects like Animal Friends.