"GOSSIP GIRL" STAR ED WESTWICK AND HIS BAND "THE FILTHY YOUTH" LEND THEIR SOUND TO AN UPCOMING EPISODE OF THE CW'S HIT SERIES, AIRING JANUARY 2 AT 9PM

December 20, 2007 (Burbank, CA) - The CW's freshman hit "Gossip Girl" will feature music from series star Ed Westwick's band, "The Filthy Youth. Westwick co-wrote (along with rhythm guitarist Jimmy Wright) and performed lead vocals on two songs, "Orange" and "Come Flash All You Ladies," which will be showcased in the episode "School Lies," airing Wednesday, Jan. 2, (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET).

In the January 2 episode, Serena (Blake Lively), Blair (Leighton Meester), Nate (Chace Crawford), Chuck (Westwick) and their entourage break into the school swimming pool for a night of fun, but when a member of their group nearly drowns, the school threatens to expel the person responsible for the break-in. Meanwhile, Chuck tries to enlist the help of Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) in his effort to blackmail Blair.

Westwick, who plays sexy bad boy Chuck Bass on "Gossip Girl," is an emerging young British actor trained at the National Youth Theatre in London. He was recently seen in two high profile feature films, Alfonso Cuar?n's "Children of Men" and Anthony Minghella's "Breaking and Entering." His upcoming films include "100 Feet" and "Son of Rambow," an independent film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, selling to Paramount Vantage for the highest amount at the festival.

Formed in 2006, The Filthy Youth is an indie rock band that plays in and around London. In addition to front man Westwick, the band members include Jimmy Wright, Benjamin Lewis, Tom Bastiani and Jon Vooght. In describing the two songs selected for "Gossip Girl," Westwick shares that "Orange" is a song about being with your friends and "ripping it up," and "Come Flash All You Ladies" is about certain women Westwick has met throughout his life. The band's music is available via their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/thefilthyyouth, on which fans are encouraged to submit their own "filthy youth" pictures.

Filmed in New York and based on the popular series of young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, "Gossip Girl" is from Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Paramount Television Inc. with executive producers Josh Schwartz ("The O.C.") & Stephanie Savage ("The O.C."), Bob Levy, Leslie Morgenstein ("Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), and co-executive producers Felicia Henderson ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and K.J. Steinberg ("The Nine").