Leighton Meester on Gossip Girl Co-star Michelle Trachtenberg’s Death

Leighton Meester is speaking out about her Gossip Girl co-star Michelle Trachtenberg’s death for the first time.

Trachtenberg, who played Georgina Sparks on the hit drama, died in February at age 39 from complications of diabetes mellitus, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner previously confirmed.

“It’s devastating,” Meester said in a recent Flaunt cover story. “She was a wonderful, talented person, and everyone loved her. It’s very, very sad for everyone who knew her.”

The actress, who played Blair Waldorf on the show, added, “Now, I can see that [the show’s legacy] continues—in some ways, even more so than back then—to live on, which is incredible.”

Gossip Girl, narrated by a mysterious yet vicious blogger, followed a group of wealthy teenagers through their day-to-day scandalous lives as Manhattan’s Elite. The show, which ran for six seasons from 2007-12, also starred Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford, Kelly Rutherford, Matthew Settle, Taylor Momsen and Jessica Szohr.

Last month, at the season five premiere of You, Badgley also remembered Trachtenberg, calling her death “really surreal” and “really saddening.”

“What I remember of her is she was incredibly quick to laugh,” he added at the time. “She was really joyous. We all have our ups and downs, our lights and shadows, but she had this — I mean, she was mature, but she had this childlike, joyous laugh.”

Lively, Crawford, Momsen and Szohr, along with the show’s co-creator Josh Schwartz, previously paid tribute to Trachtenberg in February following her death.