‘Gossip Girl’ Author Is Writing A Blair Waldorf Sequel Set 20 Years Later

It’s been more than 20 years — and one short-lived TV reboot — since Gossip Girl first introduced us to the cutthroat social politics of the Upper East Side. But we’re not done with the world of headbands and scheming on the Met steps yet, because author Cecily von Ziegesar is reviving her most iconic character in a brand-new standalone novel. If you guessed Blair, you’d be right… which also happens to be the title of the follow-up.

Deadline first revealed the news, noting that the new book will pick up two decades after the original Gossip Girl series. Yep, that means Blair (like many of us who were obsessed with the books and TV show back in the early aughts) is now in her 40s.

A perimenopausal Queen B, perhaps? We’d love to see it.

Not surprisingly, details are being kept tightly under wraps, but the premise alone feels like straight-up catnip for longtime fans. Here’s what we do know, including whether another TV series sounds like a real possibility.

What do we know about the book so far?

Our favorite former NYC socialite will return to the Big Apple with her sights set on getting back on top of the Upper East Side food chain, per Deadline’s sources.

As for a release date, it looks like we’ll have to hold out until summer 2027. The project sparked a pretty competitive auction, with Alloy Entertainment selling the book rights to Grand Central Publishing in a major deal. This is routine for Alloy — the company generally licenses only the book rights to publishers while retaining the rest (more on that in a minute).

Where did we leave Blair?

Let’s be real: It’s been two decades, and our memory isn’t what it used to be. I know for a fact I watched the original TV series *numerous* times, but I probably still couldn’t tell you exactly where everyone ended up. So, time for a little refresher!

Right out the gate, you should know that the book and TV versions of Blair ended up in very different places. In the novels, Blair’s final chapter came in 2009’s I Will Always Love You, where she finally (!) breaks free from her on-again-off-again relationship with Nate Archibald. After making peace with Serena, she decides to leave all the Constance drama behind for good to start fresh in college.

Nope, no Chuck Bass endgame in the books.

On TV, though, Blair and Chuck were the toast of all teen series’ stans when they ended up married, with Blair running Waldorf Designs and raising their son.

So… what does a 40-something Blair Waldorf look like?

This is where the guessing game begins. Depending on whether von Ziegesar leans more into the book canon or the TV canon, a modern Blair could go in so many directions. Maybe Blair’s fashion empire is struggling to adapt in the age of influencers and algorithms. Maybe our headmistress of headbands realizes her thirst for hierarchy can be quenched by becoming an actual headmistress, and she returns to Constance to wield her power once again.

Is she single? With Chuck? Does she have kids? Whatever the angle, a reformed-but-still-a-little-ruthless Blair navigating middle age sounds kind of perfect to me.

Could Blair return to our screens?

God, we can sure hope so. Honestly, I don’t see why it wouldn’t get a screen adaptation. There’s no official word on that front yet, but there are a few reasons it seems probable.

For starters, Alloy has retained the film and TV rights, which they typically do with their book-to-screen hits. But also, Leighton Meester is still acting and has said before she wouldn’t rule out returning to the character. During a 2022 interview, she delivered the tried-and-true “never say never” response when asked about slipping back into Blair’s designer shoes.

Plus, she’s reunited with Kristen Bell (who voices the infamous Gossip Girl narrator) a few times over the years, most recently in Bell’s hit Netflix series Nobody Wants This.

And, ultimately, we live in the era of reboots and millennial nostalgia cash-ins. A prestige sequel following an older, sharper Blair Waldorf doesn’t feel far-fetched at all.