17 Things "Gossip Girl" Actually Got Right About Relationships

XOXO

1. Your soulmate might not be the person of your ~dreams~.

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We all have that image of what our dream guy or girl would look like, but not many people fall in love with someone who matches that picture. And that's actually a really beautiful thing.

Take Eleanor and Cyrus. Even Blair was surprised to say the least when she met her future father-in-law, but there was no denying that Cyrus made Eleanor happier than she had ever been with Harold. It just goes to show that reality is often more wonderful than anything you could dream up.

2. Perfection's not all it's cracked up to be anyway.

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Blair’s goal from the get-go was to be the queen of the Upper East Side. So when the opportunity came for her to be an actual princess, she clung onto it with her perfectly manicure talons. But anyone could see that Prince Louis was the wrong guy for her (#TeamChuck), with his untrusting ways and the mother/sister-in-law duo from hell.

Sometimes you fight for what you think is your perfect circumstance only to realise that it just wasn’t meant to be. What might seem like the perfect catch might just be hindering you from your happy ever after.

3. Running away from your problems won't solve them.

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The whole show starts with Serena arriving home after running away from her problems, only to come back to loads of questions and an extremely pissed off friend.

So when Blair wants to run away from the fact that she slept with Chuck and Nate in the same week, Serena is on hand to stop her before she boards the helicopter. They ride the storm out together and it’s totally fine in the end. Relationship troubles happen, and they'll make you want to disappear, but if you lean on your support system to keep you grounded, you'll get through it.

4. After all, you can't hide from the truth forever.

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Pretending to be something you're not is just another way of running away from the reality of a situation. It's just a temporary fix. When Chuck woke up in unfamiliar territory in Europe with a hot blonde staring at him he, of course, thought the only way forward was as Henry Prince. While Eva demonstrated the patience of a saint, Chuck still had to face up to his Chuck Bass troubles. There’s just no quick fixing long-term problems.

5. But you should never feel you have to apologise for who you are.

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Chuck Bass is confidence goals. Be so confident that your excuse for anything can just be “I’m Chuck Bass,” but, you know, your own name. You’ll be irresistible.

6. And honesty actually IS the best policy.

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For the love of God, just be honest! If this show has taught us one thing, it's that you can't hide the truth. We may not have an actual Gossip Girl IRL, but gossip is REAL. Think of all the secrets that destroyed almost every relationship in the the show at some point or another, from Lily hiding a child from Rufus to Serena hiding her wild past from Dan. Things would have been so much simpler if they told the truth.

7. You should hold on to the people who've made you who you are.

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Gossip Girl was all about navigating the transition between the teen years and adulthood, and growing with the people you care about. There’s just no letting go on the Upper East Side, guys. Starting over and forging your own path is admirable, but it doesn't mean your past isn't worth revisiting and maintaining – just look at Chair and Darena.

8. Getting involved with friends' exes is NEVER simple.

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Even if they claim to be completely over him, à la Dan and Serena. Let’s even not talk about how completely wrong the whole Dan and Blair thing was fundamentally (literally more wrong than Dan and Serena being step-siblings).

Main point, respect your friendships first. Be really sensitive to your friend, and don't be surprised if your new relationship with their old flame brings up a lot of feelings neither of you realised they had.

9. And getting involved with your friend's current partner is NEVER okay.

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Even when Blair "got over" Serena's fling with Nate and began eyeing up Chuck, there was always the underlying betrayal. You couldn’t help but think that it was a factor in every one of the 4 million arguments the girls had.

Respect is tantamount to any friendship, and putting yourself first when it comes to your friend's love life can cause damage you might never be able to fully stitch up. Sex is never worth losing a friend, and if it's more than sex, you have to be honest with your friend BEFORE you do the deed, at the very least, or your friendship AND new relationship are doomed from the start.

10. Transitioning from friendship to more isn't always smooth.

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Ever since Vanessa popped through Dan's bedroom window in Season One it was obvious she was suppressing major feels for Lonely Boy, right? It was inevitable that they would get together, but the way their friendship completely decayed after their stint as a couple kind of makes you question whether hooking up with your best friend is worth the risk.

Sure, the whole Vanessa stealing Dan's book and having it published behind his back thing was pretty dodgy, but would it have be handled so badly if their friendship wasn't already frayed with the relationship drama?

11. Just, avoid your friendships overlapping with your relationships at all costs.

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Because chasing the same person as your friend is bound to end badly. Admittedly, both Dan and Nate handled the whole both being in love with Serena thing pretty admirably. But the awkwardness that entailed when Jenny and Vanessa both fancied Nate was enough to ward anyone off pursuing your mate's current conquest.

Just follow this rule of thumb: Don't compete with your friend for a date, but if you must, don't humiliate that friend in public.

12. If it's a question of family vs relationship, then family always wins.

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Remember the whole Rufus and Lily/Dan and Serena relationship tug of war? Remember when Serena selflessly (ahem) broke things off with Dan when she found out Rufus and Lily wanted to be together? That, my friends, is true love.

13. Relationships don't get easier as you grow up.

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It’s so easy to forget that your parents were once youngsters kicking about the town, but GG reminds us that they're basically us, just twenty years prior. No one exhibited this more than Lily van der Woodson/Bass/Humphries, who basically faced the same kinds of hang-ups as the Upper East Side teens throughout the series.

Having experience and getting older doesn't make life and love any easier. We're all just fighting for what we want and hoping we end up happy, even though we've made plenty of mistakes along the way.

14. But you should never give up on finding the kind of love you want.

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Watching Blair continuously put her feelings on the line with Chuck to keep getting knocked back was tough to watch. Like when she spilled her guts to him AT HER WEDDING.

Despite it all, Blair waited it out, through being traded for a hotel, a peace treaty, a wedding and subsequently sticky pre-nup and Chuck exacting his revenge on Bart, she was always there. Patience is fundamental, but so is knowing what's worth it and what's not.

15. And mind your own damn business along the way.

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So the show would have been pretty much non-existent in the absence of gossip. I mean, it was called Gossip Girl and did revolve around an anonymous gossip blogger (the identity of which we shan’t discuss but WTF) and that gossip created 70% of the shows drama. Gossip may be hella entertaining, but it's not worth the damage it leaves in its wake.

16. True love ALWAYS prevails.

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Isn't that what everyone in the show was ultimately fighting for? To overcome any relationship riff raff and find happiness? Blair and Chuck get married and have little Henry, Serena and Lonely Boy Dan get married, hell, even Rufus finds happiness with Lisa Loeb. It'll all come good in the end.

17. And the most valuable relationships of all are your friendships.

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If we’re honest, the true love story of Gossip Girl is Blair and Serena. No relationship overcame more betrayal and adversity that that of those two. From sleeping with high school boyfriends to career sabotage, the fact that they were still there for each other in the end is a true testament to friendship and just shows that whilst fickle flings will fizzle, a best friendship is here for keeps, xoxo.