The Gossip Girl universe was born in 2002 when the first of the Gossip Girl books was published, and by the end of its run, Cecily von Ziegesar's sizzling young adult series included 13 books. The series is named for a mysterious blogger who chronicles the lives of Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, best friends and students at the upper-class Constance Billard School for Girls. The Gossip Girl series has stirred up controversy – and even been banned – for its inclusion of topics like teen drug use and sexuality. Despite this, the books were adapted into the wildly popular Gossip Girl TV show in 2007. In 2021, HBO Max aired a Gossip Girl reboot set well after the original show.
So, who is Gossip Girl, and why is she (or he) so obsessed with Serena and Blair? That depends on whether you're listening to the books or watching the show! In fact, there are a number of differences between the books and their small-screen adaptations. This article will review some of the major, most scandalous differences between the Gossip Girl books vs show. But first, and especially for those who haven't dipped their toes into the franchise as of late, let's take a look back at those inimitable Gossip Girl characters.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Gossip Girl series.
Gossip Girl Main Characters
Blair Waldorf
Pretty, popular, and accomplished, Blair is the (mostly) undisputed queen of the school. She, like all of the characters, is used to getting what (and who) she wants. She was portrayed by Leighton Meester on the TV show.
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena's expulsion from boarding school causes her to return to Constance Billard at the worst possible moment. She is Blair's best friend and chief rival for Nate Archibald's affections, leading to frequent drama. Blake Lively plays her on the show.
Chuck Bass
A relatively minor but important character in the books, bad boy Chuck Bass became a primary member of the Gossip Girl cast and one of Blair's main love interests when the franchise moved to television. Played by Ed Westwick, Chuck is the son of a real estate tycoon and a student at St. Jude's School for Boys.
Nate Archibald
Nate is the object of affection for both Blair and Serena. This leads to frequent tension between the three as Nate struggles to choose between them. Despite his indecisive and sometimes irresponsible ways, both Blair and Serena trusted – and lost their virginity to – the handsome Nate, played by Chace Crawford.
Dan Humphrey
A moody poet, Dan is played by Penn Badgley on the show. In the books, he manages to achieve his dreams of literary stardom at the expense of his personal relationships. He has a younger sister, Jenny, who became the star of the Gossip Girl spin-off book series, The It Girl.
Gossip Girl
The title character is perhaps the most important – and definitely the most mysterious – character in the entire franchise. The voice of Gossip Girl is Kristen Bell, who narrates the lives of those at Constance Billard with a feverish devotion in both the original show and the reboot.
What are the differences between the Gossip Girl books and television show?
When adapting a book series for television, some changes are inevitable. Here are 10 of the biggest differences between the books and the television adaptation.
While the book series was no stranger to rampant drug use, the show made many changes to who was a user and what the consequences were. For example, Nate's addiction became his father's, and Dan suddenly became a non-smoker.
The book version of the Humphrey family lives in the affluent Upper East Side. The show version, however, lived in a different environment entirely: Brooklyn.
In both the books and the show, Dan has a younger sister, Jenny. But while the Jenny of television worshipped both Blair and Dan, book Jenny was much more petulant, exhibiting great respect for Serena but not her own flesh and blood. This changed the entire dynamic among the principal characters.
Speaking of Jenny, her main goal in the books was to get people to stop staring at her large chest. In the show, however, this plotline is eliminated, and she instead wants nothing more than for her peers to pay attention to her for once. This leads to both greater character development and changes in her storyline.
Blair and Serena's rivalry for Nate's affections is the plot that makes the book series go round. While it is still present in some form on the show, it is toned way down, thanks in part to major changes made to Chuck's role.
Serena's reasons for leaving boarding school differ between the books and the show. In the books, she went to boarding school due to romantic complications, and she was expelled for partying too hard. On the show, she went to boarding school because she felt responsible for someone else's drug overdose, and she returned to see her brother, Eric.
The relationship between Serena's mother, Lily, and Dan's father, Rufus, is a key point in the television series, where it is used to launch any number of plot threads. Their romance in the books? Nonexistent.
Both the books and the show gave Serena a brother, Eric. But while he was a non-presence in the books, the TV series gave him quite a lot to do. He was also the show's only gay main character.
Chuck was originally written as the rich kid who is barely tolerated by his peers. The TV show promoted him to best-friend status and even made him an important love interest for Blair. Needless to say, this led to some major plot revisions.
In the books, the identity of the chatty Gossip Girl remains a tantalising mystery. In the final season of Gossip Girl, the mysterious blogger is revealed to be Dan Humphrey, and the entire blog was a ploy to get Serena to go out with him. (You may not want to bring that change up to certain die-hard Gossip Girl fans, who much prefer the eternal anonymity of the books.)
What about the 2021 adaptation?
In June 2021, HBO Max released a sequel to the original Gossip Girl show, also called Gossip Girl. Featuring a new generation of preppy students, it still has plenty of drama, backstabbing, and romantic rivalries, further enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ubiquity of social media.
The list of new characters includes the title character, Gossip Girl. Though Kristen Bell returns to voice Gossip Girl once again, the blogger behind the screen has a whole new identity and motive: she is now a teacher at Constance Billard, bent on getting the students to fight each other instead of their teachers. (That certainly fits the old Gossip Girl spirit!)
To check out the differences between the various Gossip Girl(s) for yourself, listen in to the book that started it all on Audible, revisit the original show (available for streaming on HBO Max or for purchase on Amazon, YouTube, and iTunes), and catch the new show on HBO Max.
Eileen Gonzalez is a freelance writer from Connecticut. She has a Master's degree in communications and years of experience writing about pop culture. She contributes to Book Riot and Foreword Reviews, and she occasionally tweets at @eileen2thestars.
