Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: ‘Laguna Beach,’ Reality TV Feuds and More

Burying the hatchet. Laguna Beach: The Real O.C. alums Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari had one of the most famous feuds of the early 2000s — but it may have all been made for TV.

“We had an issue with each other, but it had been squashed [by the time filming started],” the Little Market founder said while speaking with Cavallari and her cohost and former Laguna Beach costar, Stephen Colletti on Dear Media’s “Back to the Beach” podcast in November 2022. “I think what happened is [producers] kind of saw this as, like, a starting point. And then they ran with it.”

Conrad continued: “I mean, I don’t think we were, like, best friends. But we were like, ‘It’s fine.’”

The Very Cavallari alum agreed, adding that the Laguna Beach producers decided to play up the tension between her and Conrad. “My take on it is, you and I never really had any beef,” she explained. “Really. I mean, obviously there was, like, a little truth to what happened with the three of us. But I felt like MTV coming kept it alive and made it way worse than it ever would have been.”

During the first season of the MTV reality show, Cavallari and the L.A. Candy author frequently butted heads over their love triangle with Colletti. “I think one of my takeaways from looking back [at the show] is I’m like, ‘[Kristin and Stephen are] really sweet [together].’ You guys were in love and you had a relationship,” Conrad said on “Back to the Beach,” adding, “Who wasn’t cheering for that [relationship]?”

Colletti, for his part, said he thought the show’s editing viewers’ perspective of the situation. “It’s completely tilted, because you’re the narrator,” he told Conrad. “And we’re wild and it’s this hurricane. And, sweet Lauren, you guys need to root for her.”

The One Tree Hill alum has previously opened up about how rewatching Laguna Beach made him upset at the way his relationship with the Uncommon James founder was portrayed onscreen. “I had a huge problem with this because look, obviously they created this show around this love triangle and there’s moments where you and I were broken up and they had learned about Lauren and I hooking up and being very good friends,” Colletti said during an August 2022 episode of “Back to the Beach.”

He continued: “And, you know, obviously, stuff happened at certain times. but at no point ever whenever we were together, you know, would I step out on you in that way. And they really paint [it like] that’s what I’m doing throughout the show — which I have a huge problem with.”

At the time, though, the former MTV VJ did admit that the show’s editors were “genius” for the way they crafted the drama between him, Conrad and Cavallari. “You have to hand it to them, they really crafted this storyline in a way that I think that’s what made audiences really engaged,” he said.”

Keep scrolling to relive all of Conrad and Cavallari’s ups and downs through the years: