Was There a Clue About Gossip Girl's Identity in the First Episode? This TikTok User Has a Theory

It's been about a decade since fans learned that Dan Humphrey was Gossip Girl. But was there a hint in the pilot? Scroll on to see this TikTok user's theory.

By Elyse Dupre Mar 29, 2021 8:15 PMTags
Watch: Kristen Bell Teases Her "Gossip Girl" Return

Get ready, Upper East Siders! Because it looks like a social media sleuth has found an Easter egg that may have revealed Gossip Girl's identity all along.

After six seasons and more than 120 episodes of The CW series, viewers were stunned to learn that the mysterious blogger was none other than Dan Humphrey (played by Penn Badgley). But could the clues have been there since the beginning? TikTok user @yussijuicy2.0 seems to think so.

In a video posted to the platform over the weekend, the eagle-eyed fan looked back at the pilot episode and noticed Dan was actually featured just as Gossip Girl signed off for the very first time: "And who am I? That's one secret I'll never tell."

"They told us in episode one!!!" @yussijuicy2.0 posted along with the clip.

This wasn't the first time someone had pointed out this scene. In fact, BuzzFeed and Glamour resurfaced entire lists of possible signs that it was Lonely Boy years ago. For instance, both outlets noted viewers first heard Gossip Girl's voice, which was provided by Kristen Bell, at the beginning of the pilot, when Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) returned to New York City and was spotted in Grand Central Station. Who else was there? Dan!

photos
Gossip Girl Cast: Where Are They Now?

Still, there were a number of plot holes throughout the season, and not everyone was convinced by Gossip Girl's big reveal—including Badgley.

"It doesn't make sense at all. It wouldn't have made sense for anybody. Gossip Girl doesn't make sense!" he told People with a laugh in 2015 before acknowledging, "But no, it made enough sense. He was a writer."

Even one of the show's writers admitted there were other candidates besides Dan, including Serena's brother Eric van der Woodsen (played by Connor Paolo) and Nate Archibald (played by Chace Crawford). 

The CW / Andrew Eccles

"I always thought it was Eric until the end of season two, and I even guided it that way, but when the New York Post revealed it was Eric—and I still don't know how that happened, I think they were just guessing—and we realized we couldn't go down that road anymore, so we abandoned him," Joshua Safran told Vulture in 2017. "Then there was possibly Nate, because we never saw him send anything in to Gossip Girl. But in the end, it had to be Dan, because Dan's a writer, observer, and could write in different styles." 

Now the only question is: Who will be viewers' "one and only source" in the reboot? Will that be a secret they never tell? Fans will just have to tune in to the revival later this year to find out.