Ashley Benson and Shay Mitchell spent a lot of time together during their years on Pretty Little Liars, which ran from 2010 to 2017 — and their friendship didn't end with the series. In fact, years later, the actresses are maintaining their close-knit relationship.
Ashley Benson And Shay Mitchell Live In Close Proximity
Ashley Benson and Shay Mitchell established a solid working relationship with one another while working alongside each other on Pretty Little Liars, which aired on ABC. But, like has been known to happen with actors who work long hours together on set, they kept in touch well beyond the end of the show in 2017.
During an interview with Cosmopolitan UK magazine in 2021, Benson said that she has kept in touch with both Shay and their fellow Pretty Little Liars co-star, Troian Bellisario, and noted that they live near one another.
Pandemic Distance
"We all live by each other. Minutes away," Benson explained.
Benson then noted that because they were in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic at the time of the interview, she hadn't been able to spend as much time with Shay and Bellisario as she normally would.
"So it's very funny. I want to see them, but I also have to be mindful right now, even though I'm getting tested weekly [for COVID-19]. It's a scary time for everyone," she noted. "I've never met Shay's baby [Atlas, 16 months], and she's like, 'You have to see her!' They're like my sisters and they always will be."
Shay Mitchell Agrees That She And Ashley Benson Are Like Sisters
In an interview of her own, Mitchell compared her friendship with Benson to that of sisters.
"I don’t know if she knows this, but I always say she’s like the little sister that I never had," Mitchell said, via Fandom. "I mean, obviously she’s not that far of an age difference from me, but she has little sister qualities and she is a little bit more of a jokester than I am. She brings out the lightheartedness in me and the goof in me that might not have been brought out so much over here."
Ashley Benson And Shay Mitchell Weren't Best Friends At First
While attending a panel event at PaleyFest, via Just Jared, Shay further spoke of her friendship with Benson, saying, “I never had a sister, but when I met Ash, she was like my little sis, and that just grew over the years.”
“We weren’t best friends when the show first started. During the second season, I was like, ‘eh,'” she added, with a laugh.
]]>The Inquisitr
