Leighton MeesterGossip Girl star Leighton Meester has said she thinks her unconventional start to life has helped her be less judgemental as an adult.

Leighton’s mum Connie was pregnant with the now 22 year old actress when she was sent to a federal prison in Texas on drug smuggling charges. Leighton was born in a halfway house and raised by another relative while her mum and dad Doug, who was also involved in the marijuana transporting operation, served their sentences.

Leighton told Us Weekly: “[Starting out like that] makes me very nonjudgmental and open-minded. And I think it just makes me appreciate the things that I have now.”

She added that her mum, who was released after serving 16 months of a 10 year sentence, is now “always there for me no matter what. I swear, that woman knows everything.”