Gossip Girl boss confirms reboot will be more diverse

The eagerly-anticipated Gossip Girl "continuation" will be a lot more diverse in terms of its stars, according to writer/producer Joshua Safran.

Original cast members included Blake Lively, Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester, but the show was scrutinised for its lack of representation outside of heterosexual, white relationships.

Making an appearance at the recent Vulture Festival, Safran promised to rectify this when the series finally returns.

The CW

"There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show," he explained (via People).

"Even when I went to private school in New York in the '90s, the school didn't necessarily reflect what was on Gossip Girl. So, this time around the leads are non-white."

Teasing the reboot's approach to the modern world, Safran further added: "It is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that."

Although avoiding any specifics, he did also confirm there will be "a twist" involved.

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The Gossip Girl spin-off will air on HBO Max, which launches next year. In the meantime, you can catch up on seasons 1-6 of the original series on Amazon Prime and Netflix now.

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Dan Seddon

Reporter, Digital Spy

Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.

In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.