We Bet You Didn't Know About This Gossip Girl Spin-Off: Here's Why It Was Axed

Gossip Girl is an adaptation of a series of novels by author Cecily von Ziegesar about the lives of teenagers from a privileged private school in New York.

The books caught the attention of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who had just completed work on the incredibly popular teen drama The O.C. They understood what the public needed: Ziegesar’s stories, full of drama and unexpected plot twists, proved to be the perfect source material for a new hit.

In 2007, Gossip Girl debuted with the promise that the show was "every parent’s nightmare." From that moment on, all of the U.S., and then the world, began to follow the story of Blair, Serena, Chuck, and their friends.

However, viewers were not only watching the teens, but also their parents. Lily van Der Woodsen, Serena’s mother who had an affair with Dan's father, was perhaps the most charismatic and bright character of the older generation. This was acknowledged by the show’s creators, who decided to make a prequel about Lily's youth called Valley Girls.

It was to be set in 1980s Los Angeles and follow the story of spoiled teenager Lily Rhodes, known as Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl. Young Lily moved from her wealthy parents’ home to live with her exiled sister, where she was supposed to attend public school and experience the lure of Hollywood.

Nina Dobrev even auditioned for the role of Lily and impressed the casting director. The actress was not hired, however, because she did not look at all like Kelly Rutherford, who played the adult Lily on Gossip Girl. In the end, the role went to Brittany Snow, familiar to most viewers as Chloe from Pitch Perfect.

However, the spin-off was not picked up, as instead of a full pilot, the creators decided to release a backdoor pilot, which aired as part of Gossip Girl season 2 under the same title as the planned name of the show — Valley Girls.

Perhaps because of this decision, the prequel was never made — the backdoor episode received rather low ratings, possibly due to the fact that it deviated from the general outline of the main show.