This is my analysis of why I think Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl and Maddy Perez from Euphoria are extremely similar as fictional TV characters.

I am a diehard Gossip Girl fan and I’ve also watched every single episode of Euphoria. I am an independent culture journalist so I do a lot of research and analysis of TV shows and movies.

Gossip Girl and Euphoria happen to be some of the most impactful TV shows in modern pop culture history so I have a lot of thoughts on several of the characters from these shows.

Aesthetics & appearances are similar

My comparison of Blair and Maddy starts on the surface level of their visual appearances and the way they look.

Blair and Maddy are both brunette and beautiful with brown eyes, clear skin, dimples when they smile, and petite figures.

They both prioritize clothes, aesthetics, and the way they perceived regarding their style and overall fashion sense.

Blair grew up in a household with a professional fashion designer as her mother, Eleanor Waldorf, so fashion obviously matters to her a lot and sculpts a lot of the decisions she makes in her wardrobe.

And we know that Maddy also deeply cares about fashion and the way she looks.

She emphasized that in one scene in particular when she tried on many different dresses from the wealthy woman who she was hired to babysit for.

So obviously, the first major similarity between Blair and Maddy revolves around aesthetics, the way they look, they are undeniable beauty, and the way they dress themselves.

They’ve both experienced toxic relationships

Secondly, they’ve both been in volatile and abusive situations with men they love. Blair experienced a handful of different toxic scenarios with men she was romantically linked to point.

I’ll start with Prince Louis Grimaldi, who she originally did have a lot of love for. However, her love for Chuck was always going to over shadow her love for Louis, and their relationship suffered because of it. And when Louis felt betrayed by her, he tried to trap her in a loveless marriage.

He made her feel extremely threatened and emotionally unsafe on their wedding day when he laid the hammer down on her. And in my opinion, that was an extremely volatile and emotionally abusive situation. I was so incredibly relieved when she got out of it.

But we also have to talk about her relationship with check. I personally love Blair and Chuck’s relationship and their love story has a special place in my heart. But I know that they had some toxicity between them and they had their fair share of issues.

Because I appreciate Chuck’s redemption arc so much, I have more patience and forgiveness for him that I probably should and I can admit that. But I truly do love Blair and Chuck as a couple. So it bums me out to acknowledge that there was toxicity between them.

It took him forever to commit to her and even say the words “I love you.” He slept around, disrespected women, and acted like a promiscuous man whore often on throughout their relationship.

Eventually he betrayed her trust completely by trading her for the Empire Hotel, and eventually swiping Jenny Humphrey’s V card. And the scene when he punched the glass and it accidentally cut Blair’s face was probably the most heartbreaking of all. It really bummed me out that they went through that. I have to admit, it sucked to see.

And Maddy is similar to Blair in that regard because we know that she has been through abusive and volatile scenarios with Nate Jacobs.

Nate quite literally threatened her with a loaded gun in her bedroom and at one point, he choked her out, leaving handprint marks around her neck.

She remained so loyal to him that she didn’t want to expose him for being abusive, so she showed up to school wearing a scarf to hide the aggressive handprint marks he left on her skin. Super disturbing.

They’ve got jealous friends

Let’s talk about the fact that Blair and Maddy both have close friends who are extremely jealous of them who want to steal their aura and emulate their energy.

Blair has always been my favorite Gossip Girl character because she has effortless princess energy. She knows her worth. And she knows that she deserves the best.

Because of that, she attracted friendships with people who can only dream of getting on her level. Jenny Humphrey happens to be one of those people.

Jenny was desperate to become one of Blair’s minions when Blair was queen bee of Constance, and eventually, Blair had enough respect for Jenny that she crowned Jenny as her successor.

Anytime Jenny was around Blair, she was emitting vibrations of jealousy because she wanted to live the lifestyle Blair was already effortlessly embodying.

Jenny was so desperate to be like Blair that she pulled out all the stops to get on Blair‘s level, including selling illegal substances with a toxic boyfriend so if she would have enough money to keep up with Upper East Siders and turning her back on her own best friend Eric van der Woodsen to give the impression that she was just as formidable as someone like Blair.

In Maddy‘s case, that friend happens to be Cassie, who views Maddy as a blueprint of what true beauty, power, and social dominance looks and feels like.

Although Cassie herself is a beautiful girl in her own right, her low self-esteem made it impossible for her to view herself with more self-respect and dignity.

She constantly looks to Maddy for guidance on how to act, how to live, and how to dress. We saw evidence of that when Cassie showed up to school dressed exactly the way Maddy dressed.

If Cassie wasn’t looking to Maddie for pointers on how to glow up and elevate in her own lane, then that scene would’ve never been incorporated in Euphoria.

They were both betrayed by their friends

And on that note, Blair and Maddy, both dealt with friends who betrayed them for the sake of male validation and attention. Starting with Blair… because this happened to her twice actually.

Serena drunkenly hooked up with Nate Archibald at the Shepherd wedding behind Blair‘s back, even though she knew full well that Blair and Nate were saving their virginity for each other.

It was one of the sloppiest most coldhearted things Serena could’ve done. Especially when Serena claimed to be Blair’s BFF. I honestly get why it took Blair so long to forgive Serena.

And then it happened to Blair again when Jenny swiped her V card with Chuck Bass on the night that Chuck was planning to propose to Blair.

Chuck and Blair’s relationship had been going through a rough patch, but at the end of the day, she knew she wanted to be with him. She didn’t make it to the top of the Empire State building for his proposal because Dorota went into labor. Otherwise she would have been there.

So Blair was really hurt to find out that he hooked up with Jenny in that moment while he was feeling depressed and rejected. Blair had already crowned Jenny queen bee of Constance by that point.

She had given Jenny a chance to rise in the ranks of popularity, status, and notoriety. She had gained a level of respect for Jenny. And Jenny still pulled that BS behind her back.

And in Euphoria, that’s exactly what happened in Maddy‘s friendship with Cassie. Maddy‘s relationship with Nate was unhealthy. They had an off and on dynamic that was incredibly chaotic.

But since Cassie was supposed to be Maddy‘s best friend, Cassie should’ve never interjected herself by getting romantically involved with Nate.

From an outsiders perspective, it was pretty obvious that Maddy and Nate were still romantically and emotionally involved, even if they were on a break temporarily.

Yet Cassie still used that time to slide in so she could get that male validation and attention from Nate, which gave her a sense of superiority over Maddy… Which is something insecure girls will do when they want to feel more powerful, more beautiful, or more whatever.

Not the most ideal family dynamics

Next up, let’s talk about their family dynamics. Blair and Maddy are both only children in their respective shows with no siblings. However, they do both experience tumultuous relationships with their parents. We’ll start with Blair.

Blair dealt with the devastation of her parents divorce while she was a high school student finding out that her father had an affair and cheated on her mother with another man.

Blair felt disillusioned, shocked, and heartbroken that her family dynamics turned out to be so chaotic. For a while there, she had a hard time accepting the reality of her parents divorce.

Blair spent time disappointed in her dad for being a cheater. And she struggled, dealing with a mother who made her feel inadequate and inferior all the time.

Eleanor would be super hypocritical of Blair in earlier seasons of the show. And at one point, she even made Blair feel like she was playing second fiddle to Serena van der Woodsen when Eleanor chose Serena to be a model for her fashion line instead of Blair.

Eventually, things got better between Blair and her father and her relationship with her mother improved by a lot because Eleanor went through character growth. But there was a while there that Blair‘s relationship with her parents was not in a good spot whatsoever.

In Maddy‘s case on Euphoria, her parents are named Ted and Sonia. They have a deeply dysfunctional and loveless marriage. Her dad struggles with alcoholism, which causes him to be super neglectful. Her mother doesn’t offer a positive example of what a loving and committed wife should act like.

In one heartbreaking scene from Euphoria, Maddie screams at the top of her lungs at her mother about how much it sucks to see her parents living in the same house when they don’t even communicate with each other.

That moment in the show serves as a huge reference point for the way Maddie’s parents Have influenced her and her views on love.

Since both Blair and Maddie grew up in households without siblings, it’s safe to say that they both might’ve been better off if they had a sibling, they could’ve bounced energy off of and shared some of those traumatic childhood experiences with.

Both sooo strong-willed

Now, let’s talk about the fact that Blair and Maddy are both incredibly strong-willed, ambitious, and capable young women who are capable of getting shit handled. They both consistently find themselves in environments that they’re too good for.

Blair is the definition of a go-getter who strives to be the best version of herself, achieving every single goal that she possibly can. Her main career path in the show is taking over her mother‘s fashion house becoming the CEO of Waldorf Designs.

But prior to that, she attended classes at Columbia University and Worked as an intern at W Magazine. Getting things done was always the name of the game for Blair, who was never hesitant about showing up and working hard to achieve her goals.

It seemed that Blair was always juggling five tasks at a time at any given moment, but she was still always succeeding in winning while maintaining her status as a highest society social on the upper east side. And while maintaining her status as a fashion icon because she never missed when it came to the way she presented herself to the world.

And Maddy is similar in that regard because as a high school student, she clearly had ambitions of achieving a life of wealth, luxury, and independence, doing everything in her power to escape the pattern that she saw in her own mother.

We can note that her ambitious nature started at a young age because it’s mentioned Euphoria that she was a successful beauty pageant winner as a child. Winning in beauty pageant at a young age is what helped build up her self-confidence.

And then, as a high school student, she started working as a babysitter to pull in extra cash for a wealthy woman. Being in that beautiful home, taking care of that kid put her in the headspace to know what she was capable of achieving for herself someday.

They speak about confidence, with confidence

Lastly, let’s talk about some of the most legendary and iconic quotes that came from Blair and Maddy that put them on the same playing field in my opinion.

Because both of these characters represent a deep inner confidence that allows you to leave a lasting impact on the people around you whenever you enter a room.

Some of Blair‘s most iconic quotes include, “I am not a stop along the way. I’m a destination.” And what I want is to become a powerful woman.” And, “If you really want something, you don’t stop for anyone or anything until you get it.”

These words from Blair are on theme for a young woman who represents ambition, self-discipline, strength, and determination. These words come from a young woman who understands the importance and power of confidence from within.

And in one of my favorite scenes ever from Euphoria while Maddy was applying Lexi’s makeup for her, she gave a bit of advice, saying, “90% of life is confidence. And the thing about confidence is no one knows if it’s real or not.”

In other words, you can genuinely fake it until you make it without viewing that phrase as a basic cliché. This is a form of manifestation, otherwise known as embodying the energy of what you’re trying to master in your own life before it becomes real.

So in this instance, trying to master your confidence on the level Maddy has mastered confidence is by presenting yourself to the world in a confident way, even if you don’t truly feel it authentically just yet. By her standards, you will eventually authentically feel it if you keep showing up that way.

I think Blair Waldorf and Maddy Perez are cut from the same cloth and I have a lot of admiration for both of these characters. I think they’re both incredibly well-written and I think they have earned positions of respect in media and pop culture.