Before fans watch the OG cast of Laguna Beach reunite and “come clean” on The Reunion: Laguna Beach this week, the stars of the MTV series are looking back on their reality TV journey, with Kristin Cavallari explaining why she agreed to star on The Hills, and Lauren Conrad confirming that she will never participate in a reunion for ‘The Hills.’
As fans know, ‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’ will bring together OG cast members Lauren and Kristen, as well as Stephen Colletti, Trey Phillips, Dieter Schmitz, Talan Torriero, Lo Bosworth, Morgan Smith, Christina Shuller, Alex Hooser and Jessica Smith for the first time in 20 years.
During the upcoming special, the group will share behind-the-scenes stories from the MTV series (which premiered in 2004), as well as reactions to memorable episodes and make their return to notable filming locations in Laguna Beach.
In a new interview with SiriusXM’s Julia Cunningham, Kristin– who was joined by the rest of the OGs– was asked about her decision to return to reality TV, which she did at the end of Season 5 of ’The Hills,’ right on the heels of her former ‘Laguna Beach’ nemesis Lauren’s exit from the spin-off. According to Kristin, stepping back into the reality TV world was “one of the toughest decisions” of her life, but ultimately one that she doesn’t regret.
“At the time, I was pretty serious about acting,” Kristin explained. “I was wanting to sort of get out of the tabloid world, have people take me seriously, and ‘The Hills’ made me an offer that I just, quite honestly, couldn’t refuse.
“ … I said, ‘If I go back to reality TV, I have to just be all in, capitalize on it,’ and I was like, ‘Then I can go into the branding world,’” she continued. “And I’m so thankful obviously, because it led me to launch [my brand] Uncommon James and, I mean, it’s just set my life up, but it was a tough decision.”
As for the show’s decision to play up Kristin’s “bad girl” image upon her return, Kristin revealed that producers actually asked her if that was okay prior to her agreeing to be on the spin-off, a gesture she said was “so nice of them.”
“ … I knew this character that they wanted me to play, and it was just a matter of fully embracing it and leaning in, or just staying down the path I was currently on, and so I just … I took a left turn and here we are,” she said.
Kristin later starred on E!’s Very Cavallari (with then-husband Jay Cutler) from 2018 to 2020. Her Let’s Be Honest podcast tour was later documented on Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour, which aired on E! in 2025.
Meanwhile, Lauren went on to distance herself from the reality TV world altogether after exiting ‘The Hills,’ and she revealed this week that she plans to maintain that distance moving forward. Despite calling ‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’ “a really nice experience,” Lauren confirmed that she has no interest in participating in a similar project for ‘The Hills.’
“ … I love that we all got together and did this, this has been so positive and, you know, we all genuinely love each other,” she said of getting to reunite with her fellow ‘Laguna Beach’ OGs. “And for me personally, I think this is the last [reality TV] project I’ll ever participate in, and I really love that I get to start and end my television career with the same group of people.
“ … I feel really good about that,” she added.
After the cast acknowledged that ‘Laguna Beach’ was one of the few reality shows to feature a cast who were already friends in real life before appearing on TV, Stephen noted another big difference between the OG ‘Laguna Beach’ cast and other reality TV stars.
“ … we weren’t trying to gain [social media] followers,” he quipped.
‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’ airs April 10 on the Roku Channel. Watch a clip from the OG’s interview with Julia Cunningham below.
RELATED STORY: Reuniting, Reminiscing & Rehashing the Past: Roku Releases Official Trailer for ‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’
(Photos: Instagram; MTV; YouTube)
One Response
Were people really asking for this? I’m sure someone did, but what’s next, Flavor of Love – Where Are They Now?
Now that I say that though, I would watch a Flavor of Love reunion 😂