So what if he regularly hangs out with an ex-boy band-er? And he shares an apartment with a male castmate when he could easily afford a bachelor pad of his own? And he reportedly just split with his country music goddess girlfriend? And his feathery blonde locks hang a little too perfectly over his cornflower blue eyes?

Can't a guy do all that without people asking if he's gay?

It's the question that keeps coming up about Chace Crawford, star of the CW's ultra-popular show "Gossip Girl" and Hollywood's latest It Guy. Crawford, 22, isn't denying -- or confirming -- anything. While blogs post photos of him and former-NSYNC singer Chasez hanging poolside in L.A. and speculate about whether he and fellow "Gossip Girl" actor Ed Westwick have pillowfights in their downtown NYC apartment, Crawford has stayed silent. Chasez addressed the rumors of their more-than-platonic relationship Wednesday on Arizona radio station Kiss-FM.

“For the record, we’re both straight,” Chasez declared. "We're not dating."

He's young, he's newly single, he's good-looking -- it seems natural that Crawford would want to go out on the town and chill with his boys. But weathering gay rumors is a rite of passage for any young male star who wears designer jeans and hair product. Zac Efron, Justin Timberlake -- they've been linked to liking dudes even while dating some of the hottest women in Hollywood.

It hasn't helped that one of "Gossip Girl's" guys -- Crawford's character Nate Archibald, perhaps -- will reportedly reveal he's gay in an upcoming episode. The blog Defamer called the news, which came the same day they posted a photo of Crawford and Chasez at L.A.'s Roosevelt pool, "the most ambitious viral marketing campaign in network history."

But really, the answer to the "is he gay?" question doesn't matter. By batting his pretty eyelashes and keeping his mouth (also quite attractive) shut, Crawford's getting press for himself and his show, and for an up-and-coming actor, that can only be good.

Serena's twinky little cutie of a brother Eric van der Woodsen (Connor Paolo) is rumored to be "Gossip Girl's" soon-to-be-outed gay character... stay tuned kids!

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl

Source : http://blogs.abcnews.com