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There were socialites and movie stars galore at Chanel’s “Night of Diamonds” at the Plaza Hotel last night, but to us, there were only two souls in the sumptuous ballroom: Gossip Girl deities Blake Lively and Penn Badgley, or, as we prefer to call them, Serena and Dan. It’s been rumored that the onscreen couple has been dating in real life, and we were relieved to see this seemed to be true, as we try our best to maintain the illusion that characters on Gossip Girl are real. We positioned ourselves uncomfortably close to their table and watched as Serena pirouetted for Dan, her blonde ponytail slapping his face; Dan drummed his fingers while Serena chatted about fashion; and Serena close-talked to Dan between courses. Finally, we got up the nerve to approach them. We mentioned that, you know, some people have commented on whether the show portrayed Manhattan realistically and asked what they thought. “From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty accurate,” Serena said. Upper East Side teenagers “really do hang out in the lounges of bars after school.” But Dan wasn’t so sure. “I would say definitely, um, when my little sister, Jenny, swings from our Brooklyn apartment to an Upper East Side palace in five minutes top — that’s really absurd,” Dan admitted. (He actually said, “My little sister, Jenny!” We died.) He must have noticed the crazed fandom in our eyes, because right then he started talking about what the network is planning for the hiatus in order to keep people like us off the streets, or at least from turning to Cashmere Mafia. Starting January 28, he said, they’ll be airing the reruns with “extra tidbits” called Gossip Girl Revealed. “It will entertain people who have seen it,” he said. “And for those who haven’t seen it, it will be illuminating.” —Justin Ravitz
