Gossip Girl turns 10: Where the stars are now

Daily Mail Online’s FEMAIL here, your one and only source into the not-so-scandalous lives of the Gossip Girl elite.

The hit CW show based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s novels is turning ten this fall, with September 19 marking a decade since the seven-season show premiered. 

The stars of the juicy hit have all experienced ups and downs in the years since, with bumpy careers and, at times, even bumpier personal lives.

Here, FEMAIL looks at what the biggest cast members of the first season have gotten up to in the past decade, and where they’ve been since the show wrapped in 2012. Spoilers ahead! 

Buzzed-about: The CW show based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s novels premiered on September 19

Then and now: Blake Lively played It Girl Serena van der Woodsen (pictured left in 2007 and right in May 2017)

Serena van der Woodsen: Blake Lively

It’s been a decade since then-20-year-old Blake achieved almost overnight superstardom as wild child It Girl Serena.

Blake had already starred in Accepted and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but was on the verge of quitting the business to attend Columbia University when she was offered the part — and almost turned it down.

‘I said, “No, I want to go to college. Thank you, though,”‘ Blake, now 30, told Vanity Fair in a new interview. Then they said, “O.K., you can go to Columbia one day a week. After the first year [of the show], it’ll quiet down. Your life will go back to normal and you can start going to school. We can’t put it in writing, but we promise you can go.” So that’s why I said, “O.K. You know what? I’ll do this.”‘

Obviously, things never did ‘quiet down’, and Blake became a huge star, nabbing side-roles in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Town, Savages, Hick, and Green Lantern — where she met her now-husband, Ryan Reynolds.

All grown up! Blake married husband Ryan Reynolds right before the show ended and the couple now has two daughters, James and Ines

Movie star: She’s continued to act and had a starring role in the film Age of Adeline

Perfect timing: Blake, who almost didn’t accept the part of Serena because she wanted to attend college, never turned back — and recently starred in The Shallows

Bumps: Blake was spotlighted for her incredible maternity style during both pregnancies, but also experienced a professional flop with her artisanal lifestyle website Preserve

The two said ‘I do’ in June of 2012, and have had two children: a two-year-old daughter named James, and another daughter, Ines, who turns one next month.

Since the Gossip Girl finale aired in December of 2012, Blake has also starred in The Age of Adaline and The Shallows, and was just announced as the star of the upcoming film adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret.

In addition to steady work on the silver screen, Blake’s also raking in big bucks with sponsorship deals. She’s been the face of Chanel and Gucci Premiere, and is currently a brand ambassador for L’Oréal Paris.

It hasn’t been all ups in her career, though. In 2014, Blake launched an artisan lifestyle website called Preserve which flopped spectacularly and was shuttered the next year.

Transformation: Leighton Meester played Queen Bee Blair Waldorf (pictured left in 2007 and right in July)

So little! The cast has grown up over the past decade and most are in their early 30s now

Changing gears: She now stars with Adam Pally on the Fox comedy Making History

Stage and screen: Leighton tried her hand at Broadway with a role in Of Mice and Men

Mom time: She secretly wed Adam Brody in 2014 and last year welcomed a daughter named Arlo Day

Blair Waldorf: Leighton Meester 

Leighton was 21 when she made her debut as Blair — though the star originally auditioned to play Serena, and needed to dye her blonde hair brown for the role of Constance’s Queen Bee.

She appeared in a few movies while the show aired, including The Roommate, Date Night, That’s My Boy, and Country Strong, and also released music. Her singles included Somebody to Love, our Love’s a Drug, and vocals for Cobra Starship’s Good Girls Go Bad.

She finally released her own album, Heartstrings, in 2014, and went on tour the following year. 

The 31-year-old has continued to work steadily in Hollywood since Gossip Girl ended, too. In 2014, she starred with James Franco and Chris O’Dowd in Of Mice and Men on Broadway, which earned her positive reviews.

And this year she switched to comedy, starring as Deborah Revere opposite Adam Pally in Fox’s Making History.

Her career isn’t the only aspect of her life going well, either. Though the star keeps very quiet about her personal life, in 2014 she married The OC’s Adam Brody, whom she met while filming the movie The Orange. Their daughter, Arlo Day, just turned one. 

Lonely boy: Penn Badgely played Brooklynite Dan Humphrey (pictured left in 2007 and right in 2016)

Art immitating life: Then just 20, Penn ‘may not have liked it, but [his character] was the closest to who he was,’ according to a producer

Scruffy: Though his character embraced the Upper East Side lifestyle in many ways, it is clear than Penn has not

Dan Humphrey: Penn Badgley

Fans haven’t seen much of 30-year-old Penn since Gossip Girl ended — and that’s the way he likes it.  

‘Penn didn’t like being on Gossip Girl, but… he was Dan. He may not have liked it, but [his character] was the closest to who he was,’ executive producer Joshua Safran told Vanity Fair.

When the show began, the then-20-year-old had already worked quite a bit, with roles on series like The Young and the Restless, Do Over, The Mountain, and The Bedford Diaries behind him.

He’d also had some experience playing a heartthrob in John Tucker Must Die, and had a similar role in Easy A opposite Emma Stone while GG was still on the air.

But the Gossip Girl life — starring in the show and also dating his on-screen girlfriend Blake for several years — seems to have worn on him, and he’s lived a quieter life after the show.

Hit film: During the run of Gossip Girl, he starred opposite Emma Stone in Easy A

Rock ‘n roll: He continues to act but spends a lot of time on his band, Mothxr

Hipster couple: This year, he married Jemima Kirke’s sister Domino, who is a musician and a doula

Penn’s had a few acting roles, in Cymbeline and the indie flick The Paper Store, and also performs with his band Mothxr — a far cry from his teen drama days.

‘Maybe I was f***ing delusional to think that I wouldn’t get pigeonholed, because who’s to say that I’m still not? But I know who I am at the end of the day,’ he told Cosmopolitan.com in 2016. 

Like several of his co-stars, Penn has also had a wedding since Gossip Girl ended, though his was likely very different from his ex Blake’s Martha Stewart-approved affair.

In February of this year, he married musician and doula Domino Kirke, who is the sister of actresses Jemima and Lola. They’d been dating since 2014.

Heartthrob: Chace Crawford played good guy Nate Archibald (pictured left in 2007, right in May of this year)

Fangirls: He earned instant heartthrob status on the show

Flashback: The 32-year-old actor is pictured with the cast in 2007

In the movies: He went on to appear in What to Expect When You’re Expecting with Anna Kendrick

Found love: He also starred on the show Blood & Oil and is still dating his co-star, Rebecca Rittenhouse

Nate Archibald: Chace Crawford

Like his co-stars, Chace, 32, took on a few extra gigs while Gossip Girl filmed, including voice work on Family Guy, the starring role in the movie Twelve, and a spot playing Anna Kendrick’s baby daddy in What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

He also found himself in a bit of hot water, getting arrest for marijuana possession in Texas. A year later, the charges against him were dismissed.

Since the show ended, he’s popped up in the films Eloise, Mountain Men, and Rules Don’t Apply. This summer, he had a guest spot on the Hulu series Casual — where he bared his backside for the camera. He also starred in the short-lived show Blood & Oil.

While Blood & Oil didn’t last, his relationship with his co-star Rebecca Rittenhouse did, and the two are still going strong two years later. 

Bad boy: Ed Westwick played Chuck Bass (pictured left in 2007, right in May 2017)

The then-baby-faced actor played the on-again, off-again love of Blair Waldorf

On-set love: For a while, he dated co-star Jessica Szohr, but she was written off the show shortly after they split

New gig: After starring in the short-lived show Wicket City, he earned the lead in White Gold (pictured)

Sidekick: He is currently dating model Jessica Serfaty

Chuck Bass: Ed Westwick

Ed Westwick really lucked out with Gossip Girl. 

After originally auditioning for Nate, Ed was given bad boy Chuck, instead — and the showrunners anxiously awaited for the British actor’s work visa to be approved so they could move forward. He’s only been in the US for a month when he got the part.

The 30-year-old has gone on to star in two more TV shows post-GG: Wicked City, which ran for eight episodes, and now the new White Gold — in a role many find familiar to Chuck Bass. It’s been renewed for a second season.

Though he dated co-star Jessica Szhor during a few seasons of Gossip Girl, the pair split in 2010. He is now dating model Jessica Serfaty, who wrote lovingly on Instagram that her beau is ‘a man worth every moment of anyone’s time.’

Oddly, however, Ed recently revealed that he may have missed the memo about Dan being Gossip Girl, telling Vanity Fair: ‘I am still not sure who GG was lol.’ 

Not a little girl anymore: Taylor Momsen played Jenny Humphrey (pictured left in 2007 and right in 2014)

Most changed: She started the show at just 14 and was Dan’s sweet, innocent little sister

Ready to go… Midway through the show she began acting out, giving obscene interviews and performing in very little clothing with her band The Pretty Reckless (pictured this year)

No more acting: She was written off the show and focused her attention on her music

Too cool for school: She is currently touring with her band in Europe and has put out three albums

Jenny Humphrey: Taylor Momsen

Undoubtedly the most physically changed since the show’s premiere, Taylor was just 14 when she first played UES wannabe Little J.

Her transformation started while she was still on the show, and Jenny gradually took on some of Taylor’s real-life style — that is, until Taylor had enough and was written off. 

She’d been acting out leading up to her exit, performing pantsless on TV, cursing and openly discussing masturbation in interviews, and working desperately to shed any good-girl image she might have had.

The 24-year-old hasn’t acted since — save for a cameo in the finale — and has instead focused her energy on her hard rock/post-grunge group, The Pretty Reckless, of which she is the singer. 

The band has released three albums (two since GG ended) and Taylor has kept busy touring, and is currently in Europe playing shows.

BFF: Jessica Szohr played Dan’s childhood friend, Vanessa Abrams (pictured left in 2007 and right in August 2017)

Longterm boyfriend: She’s now dating football player Scotty McKnight

Acting on: She’s also appeared on Complications (pictured) and Twin Peaks

Vanessa Abrams: Jessica Szohr

Jessica left Gossip Girl before the show’s last season, coming back only for a quick cameo in the finale.

At the time, there was rumored on-set drama, with some sources reporting that Ed — whom Jessica dated and then split with — wanted her written off the show.

Since then, she’s appeared in The Internship, Ted 2, and the TV series Complications and Twin Peaks. This summer, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of Shameless for its eight season. 

The 32-year-old actress has now been dating football player Scotty McKnight for over two years and is often spotted by paparazzi hanging out with friend Nina Dobrev.

Sparks flew: Michelle Trachtenberg played schemer Georgina Sparks (pictured left in 2009 and right in 2017)

On TV: She’s since appeared on the show Guidance and recently reunited with the cast of Buffy for a 20-year reunion photoshoot

Georgina Sparks: Michelle Trachtenberg

Former child star Michelle was all grown up as scheming Georgina Sparks, a role first offered to Mischa Barton.

‘It’s awesome playing the bad girl,’ she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. ‘Dawn [from Buffy the Vampire Slayer] was a lovely nerd and Georgina is a b****. There’s no way around it. It’s in every fiber of her being. It’s so much fun to know that Georgina can kill you with a glance.”

The very busy actress pulled double duty during most of filming, also starring in 17 Again, acting in the TV series Mercy, and doing voice work for the cartoon Robot Chicken.

After the show ended, the 31-year-old went on to appear in Guidance, The Scribbler, and five TV movies.

Earlier this year, she celebrated an even bigger TV anniversary — Buffy’s 20th — and joined her former castmates for a much-buzzed-about reunion photoshoot.

Drama mama: Kelly Rutherford played Serena’s mom, Lily van der Woodsen (pictured left in 2007 and right in 2017)

Lily van der Woodsen: Kelly Rutherford

Melrose Place alum Kelly, 48, had a ton of TV experience before becoming Lily van der Woodsen Bass Humphrey Bass.

She’s been on Homefront, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The Great Defender, Kindred: The Embraced, The District, Threat Matrix, E-Ring, and several TV movies before, at the age of 38, playing mom to two teenagers. 

And while she has kept working since — with small roles in Reckless, Being Mary Jane, and Quantico — it’s her personal life that has earned the most headlines.

While pregnant with her second child in 2008, she filed from divorce from husband Daniel Giersch, and there’s been drama ever since. Giersch claimed Kelly didn’t tell him about the birth of their daughter, Helena, and she took out a temporary restraining order against him.

‘Daniel was subtly verbally abusive,’ she told Vanity Fair. ‘He was trying to alienate me from everyone in my life — my parents, my brother.’

Not leaving TV: Recently, she’s appeared on Quantico and Being Mary Jane

Fighting for her kdis: Her ongoing legal battles with her ex-husband over custody of their children, Hermes and Helena, have been in the headlines

When her ex’s US visa was revoked and he was deported — thanks in part to evidence about his business supplied by Kelly — so started an ongoing custody battle. Because Giersch could not enter the US (and was living in France and Monaco), Kelly had to travel there frequently to see her children.

A prolonged court battle repeatedly changed custody of the children, leading Kelly to file for bankruptcy in 2013. 

Currently, Hermes and Helena live in Monaco with Giersch, while Kelly has visitation rights — but she hasn’t given up.

‘My children and I have lost years of dailiness. How do you get those years back?’ she said, adding: ‘There is no way I am not going to fight to get my children back.’

Brooklyn dad: Matthew Settle was only 38 when he started playing Rufus Humphrey, father to Dan and Jenny (pictured left in 2008 and right in 2015)

Family: He had a daughter during the show but split from the mother; he has since had another daughter with his new girlfriend

Rufus Humphrey: Matthew Settle

Matthew, 47, already had a bunch of credits to his name when he signed on with the show, having appeared in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Band of Brothers, and a few episodes each of ER, The Practice, and Brothers and Sisters.

After playing Dan and Jenny’s dad, Matthew went on to star in the movies Marshall’s Miracle and Ouija.

He also grew his family. During his brief marriage while the show aired, he welcomed a daughter, Aven, who is now eight. In 2015, he had another baby girl with his girlfriend Maria Alfonsin. 

The help: Zuzanna Szadkowski played Dorota, Blair’s maid (pictured left in 2009 and right in 2016)

Beloved: Dorota was a fan favorite and a mother figure to Blair

Since Gossip Girl, she’s appeared on The Knick and Girls

So sweet! According to Adam Brody, she and Leighton are best friends in real life

Dorota: Zuzanna Scadkowski 

As Blair’s beloved yet oft-abused maid Dorota, Zuzanna (now 38) became a quick fan favorite.

Unlike her character, Zuzanna doesn’t have a Polish accent, having moved to the US from Poland when she was three. Also unlike her character, Zuzanna is actually an Ivy Leaguer: She went to Barnard College at Columbia University and received her MFA from Harvard.

Since Gossip Girl ended, she’s appeared in several episodes of Girls and The Knick, and also popped up with cameos on The Good Wife and Elementary.

But the bit of trivia that’s most likely to please fans of the show is that Zuzanna has remained close with Leighton — in fact, Leighton’s husband Adam revealed in 2015 that they are ‘best friends’.