The Gossip Girl reboot is officially becoming an HBO series, but will the OG cast come back?

Update, January 23rd, 2020, 11:15 a.m. ET: It’s official! The Gossip Girl reboot has a series order from HBO Max, which means we’re 100% returning to Constance Billiard. Deadline confirmed the news today, January 23rd, and while we’re super excited, we’re still buried in some of the gossip about the returning (or not returning) cast members.

We do know that Joshua Safran, the original Gossip Girl writer, is on board to again develop the series based on Cecily von Ziesgar’s books. And we have the reboot’s synopsis, according to Deadline:

The original voice of Gossip Girl, Kristen Bell, has also confirmed that she’s returning. As for the rest of the cast, we still have no definite regulars or even cameo appearances. In a January 16th People interview with Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s Head of Original Content, she was asked directly about the potential return of any of the original cast, which included Penn Badgley, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Chace Crawford.

“We’re having early casting conversations, drawing circles around a few people, but it’s early days,” Aubrey said.

Similarly, in a December interview with Entertainment Tonight, however, Safran said that he would “want to” have original cast members back.

“I would love for everyone to come back if they wanted to. The universe still exists. The characters talk about Serena, Blair, Chuck, Dan,” Safran said. But when asked specifically about Penn Badgley as Dan, he said, “I don’t know, I hope so,” adding, “Now that you’ve said it, I want it to.”

It seems like, for now at least, the cast details are one secret they’ll never tell.

Update, November 11th, 10:40 a.m. ET: There’s a lot of, well, gossip around the Gossip Girl reboot coming to HBO Max, but executive producer and writer of the original show, Joshua Safran, is here to set the record straight on a few things. And look, as much as we love everything Gossip Girl, we can admit to some of its faults. Hopefully, Safran said, some of those things will be remedied the second time around.

“There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show,” Safran admitted at Vulture Festival. “I was the only gay writer I think the entire time I was there. Even when I went to private school in New York in the ’90s, the school didn’t necessarily reflect what was on Gossip Girl.”

For the Gossip Girl reboot, Safran said he’s making some changes to the world at Constance Billard. (Yes, he also confirmed that the reboot is set at the same fictional school. Yaaas!)

Well, it wouldn’t be Gossip Girl without a twist. We can practically hear Kristen Bell’s voice now.

Update, July 22nd, 12:15 p.m. EDT: Spotted: Kristen Bell talking about the Gossip Girl reboot and whether she’ll reprise her voice-over role. Let’s just say she had the most Gossip Girl answer to the question ever.

According to E! News, when asked if she’d return for the reboot, Bell said, “Maybe…I’ll never tell.” Fans, of course, will understand right away that she’s quoting her own words as the voice of GG: “And who am I? That’s one secret I’ll never tell. XOXO, Gossip Girl.” Obviously, we’re fully on board with Bell’s reprisal, but we’ll have to wait for the rumors to be confirmed.

Original post, July 17th: When Gossip Girl aired in the late aughts, it made teen viewers secretly wish they could be like Serena van der Woodsen or Blair Waldorf. And since the series ended in 2012, there has been a lot of buzz about a potential Gossip Girl reboot, leaving fans wondering when—and if—they’ll be able to return to the Constance Billard School for Girls. Now we can say with confidence that a Gossip Girl reboot is officially happening.

Deadline reports that WarnerMedia has ordered 10 episodes of the Gossip Girl reboot, which will be available on the company’s streaming service, HBO Max.

But don’t expect Serena and Blair to be the centers of attention. According to Deadline, the reboot is set “eight years after the original website went dark” and focuses on a new group of teens attending one of New York’s elite private high schools. It’s unclear if any of the original cast will be returning.

Joshua Safran, who was the showrunner and creator of the original Gossip Girl, will write the new version of the show. And like the original series before it, the reboot will be based on the series of books by Cecily von Ziegesar. Entertainment Weekly also notes that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who also helped to create the original, will executive produce the new series.

With all this in mind, it sounds like the reboot will have just as much juicy drama as the show we obsessed over as teens. And, to be honest, we’re definitely freaking out.

Safran told The Hollywood Reporter that he, Schwartz, and Savage had been toying with the idea for a while.

He added that the reboot would be an “extension” of the original, describing it as “a new look at this particular society in New York.” He also noted that the new show would examine social media’s effects on society.

We’ll have to wait until HBO Max’s 2020 launch or for Gossip Girl to confirm more rumors to find out more. After all these years, we still love Gossip Girl. XOXO.