MTV’s Laguna Beach was a hit reality show that defined a generation, introducing viewers from around the globe to the wealthy Orange County lifestyle enjoyed by cast members like Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Kristin Cavalarri, Stephen Colletti, and more. Bosworth—speaking to Bethenny Frankel on her podcast “Just B”—likely made fans of the show very happy when she hinted that it might be getting a reunion in honor of its upcoming 20th anniversary. (The show ran from 2004 to 2006.)
“Lauren and I are friends, and there are rumblings that there may be a 20th anniversary special of Laguna Beach that’s coming down the pipeline, maybe,” Bosworth said. “I sort of talked to a couple people about it because we graduated from high school in 2004. It’s 2024. It’s our true 20-year high school reunion this year, and so in the context of Laguna, I think it would be great to get back together with the old gang.”
Of her former high school classmates, “I think that everybody’s doing really well, everybody is really friendly,” Bosworth said. “And Laguna’s a kind, nice version of reality TV, right? You get to The Hills and it’s, like, much bigger impact from a drama and trauma perspective.”
The Hills—a spinoff of Laguna Beach that largely followed Conrad as she pursued a career in the fashion industry—aired from 2006 to 2010. The show followed not just Conrad but also her housemate, Heidi Montag (and her boyfriend, now husband, Spencer Pratt), and their friends Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port. Bosworth also joined Conrad on the show (ultimately appearing in 65 episodes), and after Conrad left the show halfway through its fifth season, she was subsequently replaced by former Laguna Beach rival Cavallari.
Bosworth said relationships between castmates on The Hills were “much more challenged”: “Not by our own fault,” she explained. “We were very young women constantly put into compromised situations where we had to blood sport it out against each other to get through a day of production.”
Bosworth said she was “not as good on reality TV” because she wasn’t inclined to lean into drama with her co-stars. “I served a very specific role, which I’m actually grateful for in hindsight,” she said. “I didn’t have to get into it too much. But in the areas where I did, it still kind of haunts me to this day, because there’s so many stories behind this story everybody saw on television that run very counter to what the public thinks of you.”
As for why her real-life friend Conrad has opted to largely stay out of the spotlight post-reality TV days, Bosworth said that Conrad’s level of fame became overwhelming to her. “I think that they were famous to a degree that whenever anything happened that was negative, the blowback felt so significant and so life-changing that you really live with that trauma and it affects you on a go-forward basis in terms of how much you’re inclined to share with people,” Bosworth said.
If Laguna Beach did have some type of reunion in the future, it wouldn’t be the first time the cast has reconnected. In 2020, the cast had a virtual reunion as part of a partnership for #GoodToVote, Entertainment Tonight reports, “where the cast answered questions and played games like ‘Never Have I Ever,’” the outlet reports. Exes Cavallari and Colletti also teamed up to co-host a podcast, “Back to the Beach,” where they went through past episodes of the show, and even brought Conrad on the show at one point, where former rivals Cavallari and Conrad apologized to one another for their behavior during the series.
Back in 2021, Conrad spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the Laguna Beach reunion the year prior, telling the outlet “It’s great! I still get to see some of them. It’s amazing. I still live in my hometown.” She added at the time, “I actually don’t watch any reality television,” and shared the poignant reason why: “It’s a little triggering to me,” she said.
