We Just Got Huge New Details About the New 'Gossip Girl' Revival

In an exclusive with Us Weekly, the Gossip Girl showrunner gave massive details about the new revival. Amongst the bombshells: the new show's characters won't be related to the originals.

GOSSIP GIRL, Chace Crawford, Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Taylor Momse
(Image credit: ©CW Network/Courtesy Everett Collection)
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XOXO! We just got major insider deets about the new Gossip Girl series, and...I'll be honest, it's different than I expected. Executive producer Josh Safran explained exclusively on the Us Weekly "Watch With Us" podcast that it's "not even a sequel." He went on, "I wish there was the proper word because it isn’t a remake, isn’t a reboot. It truly is just years after the original. It’s hard to say how many years because the original ended in 2012. But it was 2017 for the characters, because we flash forward five years."

"It really is the same world. It’s 2020. If these characters were to talk about Blair Waldorf, they’re going to talk about Blair Waldorf. I kind of look at it as sort of what Marvel does or the DC Universe. You’re just looking at a different angle inside the universe. I think, because of that, it allows us to not feel super tied."

But, he added, "It’s still in the same location, it is still [about] fashion, still about privilege, about the 1 percent.”

Also, in news that is devastating to me, the new show's characters won't be related to the original characters. “You heard it here first. The truth of the matter is, we covered so much ground the first time around, you would have seen all the relatives,” he says. “Kids is not possible because they were, like, 15 when we started, so they wouldn’t have kids in high school now. As for relatives, we went so deep into the family history, there are no relatives left! But that isn’t to say that people won’t pop in." So: A cameo or two might be possible, in other words. I demand Blake Lively and Leighton Meester.

MTV TRL Presents Omarion, J. Holiday & The Cast Of Gossip Girl

(Image credit: Scott Gries)

There will also be an overarching question/mystery, as with "Who is Gossip Girl?" on the original series. “There is an arc to season 1 that probably is more of an arc than had previously existed on Gossip Girl, because it is only 10 episodes. So I kind of say it’s like Big Little Lies in that way, because we want to make sure that like that it is all connected,” Safran adds. “But I will not tell you what that arc is!”

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Katherine J. Igoe
Katherine J. Igoe
Contributing Editor

Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award. 

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.