Actor Chace Crawford, the resident undercover gay on the hit CW series Gossip Girl, says he struggles with the message the sex-charged show sends out to its young fans.

“Is that a weight on my conscience? Well, yes, I think it is,” Chace replied when quizzed about Gossip Girl’s sex scenes in an interview with British newspaper The Independent last week.

“I come from a moral background, and I can see the power of the show, and imagine my old school-teachers cringing, or my grandparents thinking ‘Oh my God’ when they see me, say, having sex on a barstool.”

“But you have to remember, this is not a reality show. It’s supposed to be pure entertainment,” the young star insists.

“I don’t actually think people give enough credit to teenagers who watch the show. They’re not stupid, and it’s not like we’re making an instruction manual telling them how to drink and do drugs, or have sex. We’re just laying out how it is,” Chace adds.

“My character is very conflicted, and even in the episodes where he’s having sex then dumping girls, there’s often regret. You know, there are repercussions to certain sorts of behaviour that come full circle.”