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Fan-favorite Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley and co-host of On Air With Ryan Seacrest Tanya Rad host Scrubbing In, a podcast where they share their thoughts about their favorite TV shows, discuss boy troubles, and hang out with celebrity guests. This episode is special, though: It’s sponsored by HBO Max’s new reboot of the beloved show Gossip Girl. Becca and Tanya talk with one of the stars, Thomas Doherty (who plays the Chuck Bass-esque Max Wolfe), as well as creator and executive producer Joshua Safran, to hear all about how the idea for the revival was born, what’s different (and what’s surprisingly similar) from the original show, and much more.
Joshua tells them that he was originally not interested in working on the new Gossip Girl because he was busy with a different show, but then he got an idea and “it just kept growing and growing.” So he got to work creating brand-new characters that live in the same glitzy, ultra-rich, Upper East Side private school life – but this time with the added pressures of social media. Most high schoolers at any time in history are playing some kind of character, Thomas points out – ”they don’t know who they are yet,” he says, making it easier to succumb to peer pressure to be, do, or say things they might not do instinctually. But in this day and age, the teenagers have the added issue of social media pressure, causing constant comparisons with their peers and constant pressure to conform and stand out at the same time.
The original show was centered mainly on the mystery of who the “Gossip Girl” really was, Joshua says, but you didn’t get to see the culprit doing all the terrible things they did – getting close to characters, allowing them to open up and pour their hearts out, only to share their deepest secrets with everyone. This time, we know right away who Gossip Girl is, so “the twist is, what does being Gossip Girl do to you? That’s the biggest thing,” Joshua says. What is it like to fall in love or become best friends with someone you’re intending to betray? Becca and Tanya don’t know yet – but they can’t wait to find out. Hear more about the new revival of the beloved series Gossip Girl on this episode of Scrubbing In. XOXO!
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