Who is Blake Lively’s personal trainer Don Saladino? The coach to stars like Ryan Reynolds, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt has found himself caught up in the legal row between Lively and Justin Baldoni

In a lawsuit filed in California by Blake Lively, the actress has alleged that her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, referred to her personal trainer as “a damn spy”. According to Lively’s statement: “A few weeks before filming began and less than four months after Ms Lively had given birth to her fourth child, Ms Lively was humiliated to learn that Mr Baldoni secretly called her fitness trainer, without her knowledge or permission, and implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks. Mr Baldoni told the trainer that he had asked because he was concerned about having to pick Ms Lively up [physically lift Lively] in a scene for the movie, but there was no such scene.” Baldoni then allegedly accused her personal trainer of reporting his request back to her. She also alleges that the Jane the Virgin actor shared his grievances against her personal trainer with his production team through texts whereby “Mr Baldoni referred to Ms Lively’s trainer as ‘a damn spy’ and sought to plant stories to portray his concerns as being motivated by his lower back pain”. In her filings, Lively has also accused Baldoni of sexually harassing and body shaming her during the filming of It Ends with Us. While the personal trainer has not been named in the court documents, Lively has been working with celebrity trainer Don Saladino for over 13 years. He also trains her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Saladino’s A-list clients also include Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Sebastian Stan and David Harbour. He’s a doting father to two teens: Amelia, 17, and Donny, 16, and in July 2024 hosted a fitness retreat in Mexico called DonCon24. But what else do we know about him? He’s more than just Blake Lively’s trainer Saladino has not only been a part of Lively’s fitness journey for over a decade, but has also been embraced by her family. In a gushing message congratulating Reynolds last July, following the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Saladino wrote on Instagram, “This was not just a movie. This was about a vision, a dream, and battling through obstacles.” “I am beyond grateful to be a part of Ryan and Blake’s family,” he went on to say. “Congratulations guys, love you both.” In a December 2023 interview with E! News, Saladino called Reynolds and Lively “my favourite two people I’ve ever worked with in my 25-year career”, adding, “They’ve become family, and they’ve single-handedly done more for me and my family than I can even explain.” Meanwhile, in a November 2023 post, the National Lampoon actor wrote, “As I get ready to shove myself into Deadpool’s Big Red Body Condom again, I have to aim the light at @donsaladino.” Mentioning the injuries he’s sustained from performing stunts over the years, Reynolds added: “[Saladino]’s always been there to help me get back to functionality. Mentally and physically. I realise how privileged I am to work with someone like him.” Don Saladino began his fitness journey early in life Saladino got into fitness as early as age seven. “I was struggling with a bad stutter and a hearing problem,” he revealed to Apollo Neuro. After recovering from surgery to treat the latter, he started playing baseball and later, began to hit the gym. “When professional baseball didn’t work out, I ended up becoming a coach because that was my way of being able to help people and stay in the gym 24/7,” Saladino added. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” He spoke up against covert steroid use Speaking to Mike Israetel in a May 2024 interview with Renaissance Periodization, Saladino openly called out Reacher star Alan Ritchson over his use of testosterone therapy. Ritchson had confessed to being “a big advocate” of it in a December 2023 interview with Men’s Health because he “had [no testosterone] by the time I was done with season one, due to the stress and the fatigue and what I had done to my body”. He also claimed not to know that supplemental testosterone is considered an anabolic steroid. Possibly referring to this interview, Saladino criticised what he saw as Ritchson’s lack of ownership about taking steroids and his excuse for it. “Don’t be the guy putting yourself on the [magazine] cover [without] admitting to it when you’re asked that question [“Are you on steroids?”],” he told Israetel. “That, to me, I don’t respect because you’re gonna have some 14-year-old kid who’s sitting there looking at that,” he cautioned, pointing out the unrealistic standards such practices can set for young people.