XOXO with Jessica Szohr is a Gossip Girl podcast hosted and produced by Jessica Szohr. Jessica played Vanessa Abrams and has remained friends with many of the cast and crew, reuniting with them on XOXO, 10 years after the show's finale. The podcast XOXO is a walk down memory lane for the cast, crew, and fans of Gossip Girl, featuring behind-the scenes stories, on-set memories, and more with interviews and occasional episode rewatches. It is produced with Propagate Content and iHeartRadio. New episodes were released every Wednesday starting January 26, 2022 and the last episode released was on January 4, 2023.
Jessica Szohr was cast after attending a BBQ at Josh's house
Serena's character was re-written to be more sympathetic than portrayed in the books.
Penn Badgley buzzed his long hair on the day of the pilot shoot.
The voice of Gossip Girl did not do well in network testing.
Though not initially written into the pilot, Blair and Chuck's chemistry was apparent from the first episode.
Stephanie was told by CW to "make crack for girls" and serve the 18-35 female audience.
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David Rapaport
February 2, 2022
Ed Westwick almost didn't make it to film the pilot due to a delay with his work visa.
Nina Dobrev, Rooney Mara, and Dakota Johnson went out for the role of young Lily Van der Woodsen (ultimately played by Brittany Snow) in the never-realized 2009 spinoff - which became the Season 2 episode “Valley Girls.”
David turned down a show on a bigger network to cast Gossip Girl instead, because he liked the show better.
Taylor wanted to stay at school with her friends and didn’t want to take the role of Jenny Humphrey at first, so her agent had to fly to her home to convince her.
Taylor’s favorite part of filming was hanging out in the Gossip Girl makeup trailer, where all the cast and crew's dogs hung out.
Taylor got almost no sleep when starting her band The Pretty Reckless and filming Gossip Girl at the same time.
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Eric Daman
March 2, 2022
Blair’s signature headband was more than just an accessory - it was a symbol of control and her relationship with her mother, inspired by Eric’s studies of French literature at the Sorbonne.
Kelly Rutherford brought her own personal Hermes handbags for Lily’s character to wear, before luxury brands started lending pieces to the show.
Chuck’s scarf has a fan nickname - Boris.
Serena’s iconic White Party look was actually a last-minute decision after her original outfit, a chic 2-piece pants look, was shrunken during a dying process.
Eric Daman gave the neckerchief from his very own neck to complete Serena’s very first Grand Central look in the pilot.
Sebastian’s manager pushed him to go to college rather than solely pursue acting.
Sebastian prefers working opposite strong women actors.
Sebastian used to have very specific audition rituals and superstitions, doing the exact same things for every callback - down to parking in the same spot.
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Nicole Fiscella
March 16, 2022
Nicole, who portrayed Isabel Coates, was a bar manager before the show and became an ambassador to NYC nightlife for the rest of the Gossip Girl cast.
She studied for her Master’s degree in nutrition on set between scenes.
Southern Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is rewatched as they discuss Georgina’s transformation, Rufus and Lily’s impending engagement, and Zuzanna’s pet peeve about Chinese food
JoAnna Garcia Swisher, who portrays Bree Buckley, rewatches The Lost Boy as they discuss JoAnna's long career on the CW (including when it was known as WB) and her daughter's love of limos
