Kaylee DeFer plays Ivy Dickson in the hit series
Gossip Girl is never short of the drama, the fashion, or the beautiful ladies and Kaylee DeFer is no exception.
She joined the cast towards the end of series four, playing Ivy Dickens, a con artist who assumes the role of the Serena van der Woodsen's (Blake Lively) cousin, Charlie Rhodes.
After successfully completing her job of getting Charlie's Trust Fund for her 'mother' Carol, she departs the series - without much hope and reason for returning.
But thanks to great coincidences and the fact that these Manhattan socialites can go anywhere, at anytime, she bumps into Serena and is once again submerged into their 'world'.
We spoke to Kaylee to find out what it's like to be part of the most fashionable show on television. 
You joined Gossip Girl at the end of the fourth series, what was that like?
It was interesting, when you are walking into the end of the season, or even a cast that have been working together for years, you never know what to expect. It's kind of like being the new kid in school. It was a bit intimidating, but everyone warmed up to me fairly quickly; a lot more so than I was expecting them to at least. It's been great.
Had you previously watched the show before you started?
No, I had never seen it. I did my research when I was auditioning and then, once I got it, I started watching a couple of episodes to catch up and get the jist of everyone's character.
Your character, Ivy is pretending to be a part of the Van Der Woodsen family, how is she coping with all of the fakeness and lies?
I think that she is just doing her job as far as that goes; I think that her main challenge is that she's dealing with the fact that she really does love that family and she's got really close to them and they've been more of a family than her own family ever have. So, in this season I think that you see more of her struggle of her breaking down that reality of what's really happening in her own head.
Can you give us any clues as to when, or if it will, come out that she's not really Cousin Charlie?
This season, I think, a couple of people start to become suspicious and gradually turns into quite the game for her and a few of the other characters. You know there is a lot of blackmailing that goes on and she's definitely on her toes for a lot of the season. 
Obviously fashion is a big part of the show, are you personally interested in it?
I have a love/hate relationship with fashion. I'm a bit of a homebody, so I go in and out of when I have to be obligated to be more fashion conscious. But, I think it's always really fun to play dress-up. But I feel that the fun is immediately taken out of it when you have to go down a Red Carpet and be judged. I think that fashion should be fun, and it's just a reflection of how you're feeling in the moment. And I say 'Screw It' to whoever else is judging you. I think that as long as you're comfortable and happy and expressing yourself then I think that you're 'in fashion'.
You get to wear some amazing, beautiful gowns on show in the party scenes, do you ever get annoyed wearing them?
(Laughs) Yes, you know that's always a really funny thing that we talk about. How, when you're in the wardrobe fitting and you're trying on all of these beautiful gowns and these gorgeous earrings, the first thing we say is: 'These shoes might be comfortable right now, but will they be comfortable after three days of wearing them straight? And this dress is really beautiful now, but will this small tag or one little button, or how tight it is or how heavy it is be killing me by the third day?' Because of all of those party scenes that you see take three days to film, at least. So, there's three days of wearing all of that, the hair and the make-up and those heavy earrings.
I think that Blake (Lively - Serena) always has it the hardest because she always has ten necklaces on, with the biggest earrings; she always has the biggest jewellery on and then she has the little-est dress and the highest heels. Then with Leighton (Meester - Blair) it's the opposite, she has the most heavy gown. We all have our own dilemmas, I think that I'm in between both of them. You know I might not look as glamorous as either of those girls, but I'm also more comfortable.
I saw on Youtube a video of you kissing Chace Crawford (Nate) on set, can you tell us anything about it?
I start working with Chace, he's technically, I guess one of my superiors at work. It's an interesting twist.
Can you tell us who's a better kisser then, Penn (Badgely, plays Dan Humphrey) or Chace?
(Laughs) Well, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Let me just say this; last season when Penn and I had our scenes, we were eating falafel on set and Penn was very nice to not brush his teeth or chew any gum before the scene and then I'll say that Chace did put gum in his mouth before our scene. So I would say that it was all-in-all a better experience kissing Chace because he had minty-fresh breath.
Do you think that you'll ever get the chance to kiss Ed Westwick too? (He plays Chuck Bass)
We always joke around about how everyone's slept with everyone on the set, as far as the characters go, so I wouldn't be surprised. As far as I can see in the near future there isn't anything set in stone. So, we'll see.
Out of the three characters, Dan, Nate and Chuck, who are you attracted to most?
(Laughs) I think character-wise I find Dan to be really that dark, brooding, artistic kind of guy that I tend to be more attracted to those kinds of guys in real life. But who isn't right? A mysterious, dark, brooding artist.
Then, in real-life out of the three?
Oh, they're all just so charming, they're all such sweethearts. I get along really well with Chace, I'd have to say Chace because we've been working together a lot recently and we have a lot of fun on set.
The big question that surrounds this series, is Blair's pregnancy. Who's is the baby? Who would you prefer it to be, charming Prince Louis or the guy we all love to hate, Chuck Bass?
I would probably have to say... for the sake of drama and the show, Chuck. Just because, wouldn't it be so much more interesting if there was a little devil baby brewing inside of her, instead of future royalty.
I know, coming out with a little dicky-bow and a scarf on.
Right, exactly. Smoking a cigarette. (Laughs)
Obviously, we also have Serena's choice and the question remains whether she will ever make a decision between Dan and Nate. Again, who do you think it should be?
I think that for the sake of the show again, I feel like it would be Dan. Plus, it's way more interesting with their own personal drama. [Kaylee's referring to the fact that Blake Lively and Penn Badgely used to date]
On to you now, you've got a film coming out soon. Do you want to tell us a little about it?
Dark Room is a horror/psychological thriller film that I did over hiatus, I haven't seen it yet, but we filmed it in 18 days - a full length feature - and we all worked really hard on it, as you can imagine.
Filming something that usually takes three months in 18 days is incredibly stressful and really hard. I'm really proud of the work that everyone did. Keeping our sanity and making it through.
But also at the same time, it's probably one of the more challenging things that I've done because I'd say I'm in 95 per cent of the script, so it was a lot for me. I didn't have much time to prepare it either, I only had maybe a week or two to prepare for it and then two weeks in it. So, it was really challenging emotionally and to see what I could pull together as far as acting-wise. I'm really excited to see it, I think that we have a finished copy ready for viewing and I think that they're going to try and get it sold. I'm excited to see what happens with it.
Gossip Girl is on ITV2 every Wednesday at 8pm, or if you can’t wait for your next fix of gossip then catch up first on iTunes when a new episode is available every Tuesday (2 episodes ahead of ITV2!) Don’t forget to add Gossip Girl: The Complete Fourth Season to your wish-list this Christmas!
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
Gossip Girl is never short of the drama, the fashion, or the beautiful ladies and Kaylee DeFer is no exception.
She joined the cast towards the end of series four, playing Ivy Dickens, a con artist who assumes the role of the Serena van der Woodsen's (Blake Lively) cousin, Charlie Rhodes.
After successfully completing her job of getting Charlie's Trust Fund for her 'mother' Carol, she departs the series - without much hope and reason for returning.
But thanks to great coincidences and the fact that these Manhattan socialites can go anywhere, at anytime, she bumps into Serena and is once again submerged into their 'world'.
We spoke to Kaylee to find out what it's like to be part of the most fashionable show on television.
You joined Gossip Girl at the end of the fourth series, what was that like?
It was interesting, when you are walking into the end of the season, or even a cast that have been working together for years, you never know what to expect. It's kind of like being the new kid in school. It was a bit intimidating, but everyone warmed up to me fairly quickly; a lot more so than I was expecting them to at least. It's been great.
Had you previously watched the show before you started?
No, I had never seen it. I did my research when I was auditioning and then, once I got it, I started watching a couple of episodes to catch up and get the jist of everyone's character.
Your character, Ivy is pretending to be a part of the Van Der Woodsen family, how is she coping with all of the fakeness and lies?
I think that she is just doing her job as far as that goes; I think that her main challenge is that she's dealing with the fact that she really does love that family and she's got really close to them and they've been more of a family than her own family ever have. So, in this season I think that you see more of her struggle of her breaking down that reality of what's really happening in her own head.
Can you give us any clues as to when, or if it will, come out that she's not really Cousin Charlie?
This season, I think, a couple of people start to become suspicious and gradually turns into quite the game for her and a few of the other characters. You know there is a lot of blackmailing that goes on and she's definitely on her toes for a lot of the season.
Obviously fashion is a big part of the show, are you personally interested in it?
I have a love/hate relationship with fashion. I'm a bit of a homebody, so I go in and out of when I have to be obligated to be more fashion conscious. But, I think it's always really fun to play dress-up. But I feel that the fun is immediately taken out of it when you have to go down a Red Carpet and be judged. I think that fashion should be fun, and it's just a reflection of how you're feeling in the moment. And I say 'Screw It' to whoever else is judging you. I think that as long as you're comfortable and happy and expressing yourself then I think that you're 'in fashion'.
You get to wear some amazing, beautiful gowns on show in the party scenes, do you ever get annoyed wearing them?
(Laughs) Yes, you know that's always a really funny thing that we talk about. How, when you're in the wardrobe fitting and you're trying on all of these beautiful gowns and these gorgeous earrings, the first thing we say is: 'These shoes might be comfortable right now, but will they be comfortable after three days of wearing them straight? And this dress is really beautiful now, but will this small tag or one little button, or how tight it is or how heavy it is be killing me by the third day?' Because of all of those party scenes that you see take three days to film, at least. So, there's three days of wearing all of that, the hair and the make-up and those heavy earrings.
I think that Blake (Lively - Serena) always has it the hardest because she always has ten necklaces on, with the biggest earrings; she always has the biggest jewellery on and then she has the little-est dress and the highest heels. Then with Leighton (Meester - Blair) it's the opposite, she has the most heavy gown. We all have our own dilemmas, I think that I'm in between both of them. You know I might not look as glamorous as either of those girls, but I'm also more comfortable.
I saw on Youtube a video of you kissing Chace Crawford (Nate) on set, can you tell us anything about it?
I start working with Chace, he's technically, I guess one of my superiors at work. It's an interesting twist.
Tagged in Gossip Girl