Watch: Blake Lively Shares Never-Before-Seen 'Gossip Girl' Photos for Show's 18th AnniversarySpotted: Blake Lively feeling nostalgic. In honor of the 18th anniversary since Gossip Girl's premiere, Serena van der Woodsen herself celebrated the show by posting a carousel of behind-the-scenes snapshots taken throughout its six-season run. "This show was my college. It was my education, my social life, my hardwork, my late nights and early mornings, my teacher," the 37-year-old captioned the never-before-seen pictures she posted on Instagram. "New York City and Silvercup Studios (& sometimes Paris) was my campus for SIX years." Many pictures include Leighton Meester, who played Blake's on-screen best friend and sometimes nemesis Blair Waldorf, and other notable cast members from the series such as Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick-a.k.a Nate Vanderbilt and Chuck Bass. "So many memories," Blake continued. "What. A. Decade. What a University." Blake also shared a throwback picture with Penn Badgley, who at the time was Blake's onscreen and offscreen boyfriend, while filming the season one episode "Hi, Society."readBlake Lively Reunites With Gossip Girl Costar Zuzanna SzadkowskiOver the years, the cast has shared insight into that time in their life, including Penn, who detailed his dynamic with Blake even after their 2010 breakup after three years. "I'm pretty sure we were exes for nearly half of the run of the series," the actor behind Dan Humphrey explained of his and Blake's relationship on a September 2024 episode of his podcast Podcrushed. "We were always very professional. We had to do all kinds of nutso stuff. Having a fake marriage by the end of it. I don't even think, in my memory, there was not one bit of strangeness. It wasn't even a thing." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Blake Lively (@blakelively) And in the more than a decade since the show's 2012 end after six seasons, there have been plenty of onscreen cast reunions. In June, Blake reunited with Zuzanna Szadkowski-who played Blair's housekeeper Dorota Kishlovsky-to advertise her summer flavors of her canned beverage line Betty Booze. Plus, come October 23, Leighton will share the small screen with the voice of Gossip Girl herself Kristen Bell-as well as IRL husband Adam Brody-in season two of Nobody Wants This. "This cast is really close, we have a very active text chain, sometimes too active, a lot of people making jokes," Kristen told Extra in February about Leighton joining the Nobody Wants This cast. "I mean folding Leighton into it just seems natural and wonderful." To learn some secrets about Gossip Girl, keep reading.
Cw Network/Kobal/ShutterstockChuck and Blair's Relationship Was Inspired by Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick's Onscreen ChemistrySpotted: Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick delivering major chemistry. Watching the final scene of the pilot-that saw Ed's bad boy Chuck Bass and Leighton's queen bee Blair Waldorf witness her former BFF Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) leave a party with outsiders Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen)-gave co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage the idea to create the iconic couple. "There was just a connection between them...that was immediately so palpable and fun," Josh said of the scene. "That was where it kind of really first landed." "It was like a revelation to watch," Stephanie added. "It's like Dangerous Liaisons. It's like Valmont and Merteuil...they love each other but they hate each other, and they do schemes together. That was such a juicy story to lean into." James Devaney / ContributorEd Westwick Knows He Had "Great Chemistry" With Leighton MeesterYes, Ed was well aware that there was something there with Chair. "I had an amazing time working with Leighton," he gushed to former costar Jessica Szohr on her Gossip Girl rewatch podcast XOXO with Jessica Szohr in February 2022. "And people really were taken with that relationship. It means so much to people, which is so cute and funny." As for his true dynamic with Leighton, he told Jessica, who played Dan's childhood bestie turned something more Vanessa Abrams, "She's an incredible talent. I miss her dearly. We just had this great chemistry, and we used to make each other laugh, and I felt protective over her at times. Yeah, she probably made me better."Cw Network/Kobal/ShutterstockEd Westwick and Chace Crawford Were RoomiesEd and co-star Chace Crawford (who played his onscreen bestie, the privileged Nate Archibald) got extra close, because they actually lived together for the first two years of filming. As Ed revealed on XOXO, "Chace and I agreed to live together on the pilot. He was like, 'Do you want to room together?' I'd never lived outside my parents' house and I was like, 'Yeah, sure, whatever.'" The British actor explained, "He went and looked at some places, and he sent me the strangest photos. It was like the corner of a ceiling with a little bit of the floor." Laughing, Ed noted, "I was lik