Multiple Gossip Girl insiders confirm to EW.com’s Ausiello Files exclusively that the CW phenom is currently shooting an episode for its upcoming third season in which Ed Westwick’s legendary lothario kisses another man.

So who’s the lucky guy? And what are the circumstances surrounding the same-sex smooch? EW.com has all the spoilery details…First things first: Sorry to disappoint, but no, it’s not Chace Crawford. Westwick’s “romantic” interest is up-and-comer Neal Bledsoe (CSI: NY, Guiding Light), who’s guest-starring in episode 6 as Josh Ellis, NYU’s head of freshman affairs.

What do we think about that?

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She’s the new kid on the Gossip Girl block, but Hilary Duff says the star-studded cast is making her feel right at home.

“Everyone’s been really, really gracious to me and sweet to me,” Duff told reporters Thursday night at a NYC celebration for Charlotte Ronson’s I “Heart” Ronson collection for JCPenney.

Duff reportedly will play Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrolls at New York University and rooms with Jessica Szohr’s character, Vanessa.

“I’m a huge fan of the show. They called me and said come on and do a few episodes. I jumped at the chance,” she said on the red carpet outside the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Due to a packed summer schedule, Duff — who recently returned from Columbia, where she distributed food to poor children through the charity Blessings in a Backpack — says she hasn’t hung out personally with the GG cast much yet, but has enjoyed spending time with them on-set.

“Blake [Lively] and Penn [Badgley] are really amazing. She’s been so so sweet to me,” she said, when asked about the real-life couple. “And I’ve known him for a few years. We’ve kind of lived in the same neighborhood in L.A., just growing up.”

Another first-timer joining her on the Gossip Girl set this season: Tyra Banks, who will play actress Ursula whose roles include cultural icon Josephine Baker.

“It was fun to work with her in a different atmosphere than appearing on her show,” Duff told reporters. “She looked beautiful and did a really great job. She had the flat hair that squiggles on her forehead. Very flapper-ish!”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Bauer-Griffin

Bauer-Griffin

Bauer-Griffin

Just when you thought Gossip Girl couldn’t get anymore glamorous, the third season is set to return with a bang. “We have our big Polo match in the first episode, we go to Sotheby’s for an auction in the third episode and in the fourth episode, we have a big movie premiere at Ziegfeld [Theater],” says the show’s executive producer Stephanie Savage.

And amidst all this glitz and glam, Gossip’s graduates are getting ready to go back-to-school and things are never too easy, are they? Spoiler alerts to come …

For Blair Waldorf, college might just be down the street from her posh Upper East Side pad, but it might as be well be across the country. “Blair is the fish out of water,” says Savage of Leighton Meester’s character. “Now that she is going to school downtown, Vanessa and Dan are really among their people. So it’s bizarre-o world for her.”

However, Blair won’t be totally alone downtown. As promised, Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) will return as her new college roommate. “She is not going to be in our first episode, but she will be in the second episode when our kid’s start college,” says Savage. And Chuck Bass (Ed
Westwick) will be a staple by Blair’s side throughout the season. While Chuck won’t be clocking in any school time, Savage tells PEOPLE, “This year, [Chuck] is really going to be focused on getting out from underneath his
father’s shadow and starting his own entrepreneurial direction.”

Adding to Blair’s “shadows” downtown is off-again BFF Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), who will also be stirring up trouble south of Central Park. As well as locking lips with Carter Baizen (Sebastian Stan) in the first episode, Serena’ll be hooking up with designers Tory Burch and Georgina Chapman of Marchesa. Savage tells us the fashion cameos have to do with Serena’s “decision [in terms of college] and what happens to her in the first couple of episodes.”

But, a reconciliation with Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) won’t be in her future [DASH] at least not this year — Dan is busy romancing Hilary Duff’s character Olivia Burke in the Village.

Then there’s Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), learning the ropes of Queen Bee. “We really do see Jenny struggling with what she is going to do with this power that has been given to her,” says
Savage. “She is back at Constance and now she is a junior — the same age as our other girls when the show started — so we have lots of story areas for Jenny that are opening up.” And one in particular that will make a
comeback: Jenny’s fashion career! “As we get more into the season, that is going to be a bigger and bigger story,” says Savage.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Are you excited!?