Gossip Girl's identity turned out to be rather controversial... but it was originally meant to be somebody completely different.

Dan Humphrey, played by Penn Badgley, was revealed to be the anonymous blogger terrorising the Upper East Side – a rather divisive move.

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On the tenth anniversary of the show, executive producer Joshua Safran explained that there were two other major possibilities that they considered before they landed on Lonely Boy.

The first choice? None other than Serena's brother Eric van der Woodsen (played by Connor Paolo).

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"I always thought it was Eric until the end of season two, and I even guided it that way," he told Vulture.

"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 – we realised we couldn't go down that road anymore, so we abandoned him."

That's a shame.

The producers also considered Nate Archibald (played by Chace Crawford). Safran said that this was largely because he never sent any tips to the blogger.

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"But in the end, it had to be Dan," Vulture's piece continued, "Because Dan's a writer, observer, and could write in different styles".

This wasn't the only revelation revealed by the show's producers.

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We also learned that Jennifer Lawrence went up against Blake Lively to play the lead part of Serena.

Creator Josh Schwartz shared: "We did not realise this at the time, but Jennifer Lawrence really wanted to play Serena and auditioned.

"This story came to us secondhand, but we were told she definitely auditioned and was bummed to not get it."

11 'Gossip Girl' beauty looks that have come full circle in 2017
<p>          In a time of harsh flat iron-jobs and epic barrel&nbsp;curls, Serena's&nbsp;signature bends hit a surprisingly modern note. Load up on <a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/g2902/best-beach-wave-salt-sprays/" data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link">texture spray</a> and tousle to your heart's content for that I-Just-Banged-Nate-Archibald-On-A-Mahogany-Bar effect.</p>