EXCLUSIVE! Meet Richard Reid, The Man Responsible For Making Jessica Szohr Smile Again!

Ed Westwick who? Jessica has been living it up and loving life while filming Love, Wedding, Marriage in New Orleans — and her new pal has a lot to do with her happiness!

Breaking up is usually hard to do, but Jessica Szohr seems just fine after splitting from her BF of a year-and-a-half, Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick, in April. Why? Chalk it up to one killer new friend, a lot of drinking and the magic of New Orleans!

“Jessica and I are having a great time every night partying,” Richard Reid, Jessica’s BFF and co-star on the New Orleans set of Love, Wedding, Marriage, tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively. “We’ve been bar-hopping.”

In fact, Jessica seems absolutely A-OK since allegedly getting dumped by Ed, 22. Richard tells us, “She seems fine. She’s got great energy, a great spirit. She’s so friendly, she’s introducing herself to everyone. She makes us go out even when we’re exhausted!”

But before you go thinking Richard, a soccer addict who spends his free time chilling at Buckingham Palace (his father is Sir Alan Reid, the Queen of England’s Treasurer) has designs on Jess, 25 — think again. “We’re a team of four,” he says. “There’s Michael Weston [another actor in Love, Wedding, Marriage] and Jess has her assistant, who’s a great friend of hers as well. The four of us have been going to dinner and to bars.”

And what of co-stars Kellan Lutz and Mandy Moore? Do they join in the fun? “Kellan’s really busy — he’s shooting this and another movie and finding time to hang out is hard. Mandy is great but busy [as well]…[But] we did meet up with Sam Worthington [who’s filming a different movie down south] and have a big night out!”

But back to Richard! We had to ask what you’d obviously want to know: what is he looking for in a girl? “I’m really fussy,” the 25-year-old English charmer says. “I really like a girl that I can have a great conversation with. I want us to be really comfortable in each other’s company.” As for looks, “I go for blondes, I would say. People make fun of me for it,” he admits, adding, “I just haven’t met the right brunette yet.”

Jessica, we smell a challenge!

— Laura Schreffler