You know you love her. XOXO.

Everything to know about the new Gossip Girl sequel Blair, set 20 years after original series

You know you love her. XOXO.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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February 5, 2026 6:15 p.m. ET

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Leighton Meester as Blair in 'Gossip Girl'. Credit:

Andrew Eccles/The CW

Spotted: Blair Waldorf's return to the Upper East Side in the world of* Gossip Girl,* where she'll likely wreak the kind of havoc only a reformed Queen B can.

In a news blast that would impress even Gossip Girl herself, Deadline revealed on Wednesday that author Cecily von Ziegesar is writing a new sequel book all about Blair (portrayed in the TV series by Leighton Meester).

The standalone novel, appropriately titled *Blair*, will be set 20 years after the original series, making the titular character now in her 40s. While other details are currently top secret, the story will follow the former NYC socialite as she returns to the Big Apple to climb her way back to the top of the Upper East Side food chain.

Leighton Meester on 'Gossip Girl'.

Giovanni Rufino/The CW

Blair was last seen in the last* Gossip Girl* book, 2009's *I Will Always Love You*, with Blair finally ending her toxic on-again-off-again relationship with Nate, letting go of her past drama with Serena, and ending things with her current boyfriend Pete, choosing to start fresh in college.

No word yet on whether the one and only source on Manhattan's elite will also return in the sequel — and no, we definitely *don't* mean Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), because the TV show's finale reveal of Gossip Girl's identity is not official cannon in the books. In fact, the person behind the mysterious blogger was never revealed in the book series, so who's to say they're not still operating anonymously 20 years later?

While the book hasn't been written yet, Alloy Entertainment has sold the project to Grand Central Publishing in a major deal, and it's tentatively slated for a summer 2027 release.

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There's also no details yet on whether Alloy Entertainment, which owns the film and TV rights for the new novel, will adapt the sequel book onscreen. But if it does, we've already got the perfect Blair in Meester. What are the chances she'll want to return for a sequel TV show all about her character? Wilder things have happened in Hollywood in the age of reboots, reunions, and revivals!

"Never say never," Meester said in 2022 when asked about potentially returning for the HBO Max revival. "They're doing a whole new thing. I feel really good sort of sitting back and leaving it to the kids — to the young, new generation."

However, she later reprised her role in a hilarious bit at the 2025 SAG Awards with *Gossip Girl *narrator Kristen Bell, proving that Blair is still part of her life nearly 20 years later.

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The first *Gossip Girl *book was released in 2002, debuting the cutthroat world of Manhattan's elite via a group of teens and their equally ruthless parents, all watched over by an all-seeing — and all-telling — mysterious online figure eager to spill their scandalous secrets. The series continued with 12 additional books, a spinoff series about Jenny Humphrey titled *The It Girl,* and a follow-up series about triplets who move to the Upper East Side titled *Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.*

The original book series was later adapted into the hit CW drama starring Meester, Badgley, Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, and Taylor Momsen, albeit with major changes from the source material. (Reminder: Blair and Chuck were never together in the books!) There was also a two-season revival that was released on HBO Max in 2021.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Books”