Though hot young actress Leighton Meester has been working steadily on TV for almost a decade, it was the out-of-the-blue success of Gossip Girl that finally launched the 22-year-old beauty to stardom last year.

"It happened so fast," Leighton, who stars as nasty socialite Blair Waldorf on the sudsy drama, explained on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet on Thursday. "I’ve been working since I was eleven… It’s actually been quite a blessing in the past year or so."

Leighton also revealed that her high-profile role gets her a very wide range of fan responses. "The other day we were shooting and I was sitting on the hood of a car and this school bus went by," she recalled. "Some of them were like, 'I hate Gossip Girl!' and some of them were like 'Blair!' So there’s like a mixed sort of thing."

The actress recently made headlines when a tabloid magazine splashed her phto all over the cover in what appeared to be an exclusive interview. But Leighton says it just isn't what it appears to be.

"There wasn’t an interview," she explained to Mike and Juliet. "People keep on asking me, 'What made you talk exclusively?' [But] I didn’t talk to them. They just sort of made it seem that way... Don’t believe everything you read."

PLUS: New interview with GOTHAM MAGAZINE

On the show influencing her own personal style: Yeah, of course, of course. It makes you much more aware of what you put on, aware of trends and styles. And in a photo shoot, especially one like this, it’s kind of cool to try something new. I’m not trying to go overtly sexy or too fashion-y. I have a lot more knowledge of designers and things like that. But I think it has a lot less to do with what designers you wear and what the trends are than who you are and what you feel good in. I still feel good in jeans and T-shirts for every day, so that hasn’t changed. But I like dressing up more.

On if she thinks about what she is wearing because she is in the public eye: Not really. You can’t pay attention to what tabloids say. That’s not what my job is about—it’s not about getting judged by other people. And while fashion is an awesome, exciting part of my job, because that’s what the show is partly about, it really doesn’t define who you are. You look ridiculous if you dress for people other than yourself. It’s just sad.

On what is coming up in Gossip Girl: There’s a lot of Chuck and Blair stuff. At the end of last season, he totally blew it. I think when he comes back, he kind of regrets what he did. He wants to make up for it, but he’s not going to be able to. Blair will not let him get off that easy, she’s going to make it a little difficult for him. She’s seeing a guy named Lord Marcus; he’s from England, and of course, it makes Chuck incredibly jealous. And it’s hard, Blair really does want something, but she can’t let her guard down because she’s been hurt a lot. Of course, nothing can be perfect for her, even though all she ever strives for is to be perfect. And there’s a lot of Serena and Blair “frenemy” stuff…

On why people try to make a rivalry between her and Blake Lively: I couldn’t tell you, to be honest. I think it does have to do with being a girl. And I think that people are just not creative. They want us to be our characters on the show. They want us to all be dating each other and fighting with each other, when in reality it’s a TV show.