Gossip Girl Matriarch on Saying Goodbye, a Surprise Return and Lily's New Position

Gossip Girl said goodbye to one of its own on Monday as Lily’s mom CeCe passed away after keeping her cancer hidden from the entire family, save for fake granddaughter Charlie/Ivy.

But CeCe’s portrayer Caroline Lagerfelt tells TVLine “there’s always a chance” she could return. After all, this is a sudsy primetime soap where anything is possible. “One of my [Twitter] fans said, ‘But that’s not CeCe. That’s her twin sister DeDe!’” the actress recalls with a laugh. “Flashbacks, ghosts, the twin sister DeDe – with Gossip Girl, you never know.”

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For the time being, Lagerfelt has said her goodbyes and describes filming CeCe’s swan song as “sad for me and Kelly [Rutherford] because we’re really close in real life,” she explains. “She’s got the most wonderful mother, but I sort of feel like her second mom.

“The other thing I’m really, really going to miss — apart from Kelly, the kids [and] the crew — are Eric Daman’s designs,” she adds, calling the costume designer’s creations “as strong a character in the show as any of the actors.”

It was Daman who soothed Lagerfelt’s disappointment over CeCe’s mostly dialogue-free sendoff. “I was so pissed I didn’t get to crack any jokes about dry martinis,” she says. “So he got me the most fabulous earrings to wear. This is dying, Gossip Girl-style.”

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But if CeCe did have the chance for some parting words, would she have outed Ivy as an imposter? Lagerfelt believes her character “might have had a inkling” in the back of her mind about her granddaughter’s true identity, “but she didn’t want to hear it. As she got sicker and sicker and Ivy was so wonderful and caring, I think she made herself believe and silenced all doubts in her brain,” she continues.

It’s another family member, however, that the actress believes will probably “change the most” in the wake of CeCe’s demise. “What her death does is it puts [Lily] in the position of the matriarch,” says Lagerfelt. “That would be very interesting to see if she picks up the baton…. I’ll be watching the show for sure! It gives Kelly’s character a lot of room to develop in new, exciting directions for the next year.”