Entertainment
Gossip Girl identity revealed in episode 1 of reboot as creator explains decision
The new series has officially kicked off (Picture: HBO Max / YouTube)
Warning: Major Gossip Girl and Gossip Girl reboot spoilers ahead.
Gossip Girl may have had viewers hooked for six seasons before revealing the identity of the elusive blogger, but the reboot has gone and given it away in episode one.
The show follows a new group of scandalous teens and picks up eight years after the original series revealed that Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) was the infamous Gossip Girl.
In the first episode, it’s revealed that Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson) is the brains behind the operation, leaving some fans a little confused.
However, showrunner Joshua Safran has revealed that people might be missing the point.
‘I felt like it had been done already, and the reason to do a show again is to find something new to look at,’ he told TV Line.
‘The first time around, when we didn’t know that Dan was Gossip Girl, he would do terrible things like send in a post while sitting next to his sister while she was having waffles, knowing that she would be destroyed once she looked at her phone and that he would be the one who destroyed her.
‘That was a full avenue that we never drove down, so it felt like this was the time to look at that — all the things we never got to see Dan do when he was Gossip Girl.’
Joshua added: ‘What we’re exploring is that no one can successfully play God. The question is: How long do you think you can? And what does that actually do to you?’
Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen), Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass) and Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald) starred alongside Penn in the original series, which hit screens in 2007.
Narrated by the unknown, omniscient blogger Gossip Girl (voiced by Kristen Bell), the series revolved around the lives of privileged upper-class adolescents living in Manhattan’s Upper East Side
The showrunner pointed out that there’s more to the reboot than just the identity of Gossip Girl (Picture: HBO Max / YouTube)
It picks up eight years after the original series ended (Picture: HBO Max / YouTube)
Meanwhile, the reboot, which viewers have been pleasantly surprised by, picks up almost a decade later.
The synopsis for the Gossip Girl reboot reads: ‘Eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teens are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl.
‘The prestige series will address just how much social media—and the landscape of New York itself—has changed in the intervening years.’
Whitney Peak, known for her parts in Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game and Apple TV’s Home Before Dark, plays Zoya Lott.
More: US TV news
Emily Alyn Lind portrays Audrey Hope, who could be compared to the original show’s Blair, as she’s a wealthy student with a designer mother.
Fans think Savannah Smith’s character Monet de Haan could be the new Serena thanks to her It-girl energy.
Gossip Girl began in the US on HBO Max on July 8. It will be available on BBC iPlayer later this year.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Gossip Girl reboot: Release date, cast, and how to watch in the UK
