Penn Badgley Is Right, This Character Should Have Been Gossip Girl Instead Of Dan -

Years after the ending of Gossip Girl, its controversial reveal of the identity of the title character continues to spark debate, and Penn Badgley is right about who should have been Gossip Girl instead of his character, Dan Humphrey. The 2000s saw the rise of teen dramas on TV, such as The O.C., One Tree Hill, and Gossip Girl. The latter was based on the novel series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar and premiered on The CW in 2007 to great success.

Gossip Girl took the audience to the Upper East Side of New York City to follow a group of privileged teenagers at a prestigious school. The group was led by on/off best friends Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), and their private and social lives were often exposed by mysterious blogger Gossip Girl. Also part of Serena and Blair’s group was Dan, who went from outcast to popular guy and to be revealed as Gossip Girl, but there’s another character who would have made a lot more sense as Gossip Girl.

Dorota Would Have Been A Better Gossip Girl Than Dan

Dorota As Gossip Girl Would Have Made A Lot More Sense

Zuzanna Szadkowski as Dorota on Gossip Girl

Throughout six seasons, Gossip Girl tormented Serena, Blair, their friends, and families, spreading rumors about them and also exposing their most personal moments. There were also some moments throughout the show when Gossip Girl’s identity was supposedly about to be revealed, but it either didn’t happen, or it was a fake Gossip Girl. Her real identity was finally revealed at the end of Gossip Girl, and it was not only underwhelming but controversial and nonsensical, as Gossip Girl was Lonely Boy himself, Dan Humphrey.

What made Dan’s Gossip Girl reveal even worse was how everyone, including Serena, immediately forgave him, even justifying all the damage he did to them and their families. Gossip Girl’s finale continues to be controversial thanks to this reveal, and luckily, Badgley agrees that there was a much better character for that big reveal. Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast in April 2025, Badgley confirmed they wanted Dorota to be Gossip Girl, and that that reveal “would have slapped.” However, Badgley noted that Gossip Girl had to be one of the core six, otherwise the audience wouldn’t have cared.

As a background character to all the drama in Blair’s circle, but one who was well-aware of everything, Dorota would have made sense as Gossip Girl.

Dorota was Blair’s loyal, lovable, and a bit quirky maid, who often gave advice and guidance to Blair. Dorota was a recurrent character throughout all seasons of Gossip Girl, and as a background character to all the drama in Blair’s circle, but one who was well-aware of everything, she would have made sense as Gossip Girl – even Mayor Bloomberg and Blair were surprised Dan was Gossip Girl and not Dorota. In the end, Dorota remained as one of Blair’s closest people and biggest supporters, while Dan’s reveal made no sense.

Why Dan Being Gossip Girl Never Made Sense

There’s More Playing Against Dan Being Gossip Girl

Dan sitting at his laptop in Gossip Girl

For years, Gossip Girl focused on the lives of Serena and company, and her reveals and rumors often created a lot of problems for them. Dan was also a target of Gossip Girl multiple times, which is only one of many reasons why he doesn’t make sense as Gossip Girl. A constant target of Gossip Girl was Dan’s sister, Jenny, whose life was ruined by the blogger many times, but Dan revealed that she always knew he was behind Gossip Girl, which makes everything even more nonsensical.

Dan’s motivations and actions are disturbing, but they were played as nothing by the rest of the characters.

Of course, there are also details like Dan not being near his computer or phone when Gossip Girl posted an entry, among other clashing details in the timeline of Dan’s actions and places throughout the show. What makes it worse is definitely how Serena chose to stay with him, and everyone else forgave him for tormenting them for years, just because he was so into Serena that he had to write himself into her circle. Dan’s motivations and actions are disturbing, but they were played as nothing by the rest of the characters.

Gossip Girl’s Big Identity Reveal Was Always Going To Upset People, Whichever Character Got Picked

Gossip Girl Was Never Going To Be Able To Give A Satisfying Reveal

Whether Dan or Dorota, the truth is that the reveal of Gossip Girl’s real identity was always going to be upsetting. The mystery of Gossip Girl’s identity created a lot of anticipation and many theories for years, and this, in turn, led to the audience having their own ideas about who could or should be Gossip Girl. Because of this, the big reveal in Gossip Girl was always going to upset the audience, as there wouldn’t have been a way to please everyone while also meeting the audience’s expectations.

Gossip Girl’s Original Identity Reveal Would Have Been Way Worse Than The Real Finale

Gossip Girl’s identity sparked a lot of controversy, but the original plan for it would have been a lot worse for the audience and Serena.

Gossip Girl had to be a well-known character who was either involved in the lives of the core group or was an active witness, as was Dorota, otherwise it wouldn’t have made sense and would have been an underwhelming reveal. Dan Humphrey’s Gossip Girl reveal is one of the most frustrating moments of teen dramas, but proves that there wasn’t really such a thing as a perfect character for this reveal, though Dorota would have been interesting.

Source: Call Her Daddy.