Lauren Conrad Just Dropped A Huge Bombshell About Who She *Really* Hooked Up With On 'Laguna Beach' (2024)

Does drama follow Stephen Colletti, Kristin Cavallari or Lauren Conrad, or are they chasing it? It looks like neither, tbh.

Together, the faces of the infamous reality love triangle have spoken out about what actually went on behind the scenes of Laguna Beach, the show that propelled them into global fame 18 years ago.

In case you need a refresher (as if you haven’t rewatched Laguna and The Hills a bajillion times since 2004), Lauren AKA LC, Kristin, and Stephen’s dynamic was portrayed as a reality TV gold love triangle whereby Stephen and Kristin were an on-again-off-again item while LC pined for Stephen and fuelled drama with Kristen. It was a lot, it was very 2004, and, as it happens, it was fake.

“You and I really never had any beef,” LC told Kristen in the November 2022 podcast, Back To The Beach.

“Obviously there was a little truth to what happened. I felt like MTV coming kept it alive and made it way worse than it ever would have been.”

Of course, that wasn’t the only bombshell they divulged. Below, the six biggest things we learned from their podcast.

Did Stephen cheat on Kristin with Lauren?

The answer here is a resounding no. Lauren and Stephen confirmed on Back To The Beach that Stephen wasn’t with Kristin when he and Lauren hooked up in their senior year.

LC clarified that when she first starting getting close with Stephen in their senior year, she didn’t realise he and Kristin had history: “I don’t think I realised you guys were boyfriend and girlfriend. I didn’t know you guys had a whole relationship. So then we started hanging out again.”

The hookup between LC and Stephen happened before MTV started filming, so any residue beef between LC and Kristin over the prior hookup had been dealt with by the time the cameras were rolling.

“We got into it and then made up,” LC added “I mean, I don’t think we were best friends. But we were like, ‘It’s fine.'”

“We [previously] had an issue with each other, but it had been squashed! [MTV] ran with it. It made for an interesting show.”

Who did Talan hook up with on ‘Laguna Beach’?

The answer it seems, is “everyone”.

While Stephen became the red herring of drama-inciting hookups, the show glossed over Laguna‘s biggest alleged hookup culprit: Talan. LC confirmed on the podcast that she was secretly hooking up with Talan during her senior year, “We all were!” She announced.

“They would fabricate a story with [Stephen], but you would be like, ‘Everyone’s actually hooking up with [Talan]!'”

The truth about Cabo

In one of the show’s more infamous episodes, the cast of Laguna Beach headed to Cabo where plenty of drama ensued, particularly when Stephen unforgivably called Kristin a “slu*t” when he saw her dancing on a table.

LC confirmed on the podcast that Kristin certainly wasn’t alone in the act, revealing that she had also danced on tables during the trip.

“I was like, ‘I was not the only one dancing on a bar, thank you!'” Kristin said before Lauren added, “I mean, I didn’t do it on camera.”

Stephen apologised to Kristen for calling her a “slu*t” in an earlier podcast, and LC, who also used the label against Kristin in the episode, did the same.

“I’m so sorry, I couldn’t believe I did that,” LC told Kristin.

“Where I’m at now, I would never call another woman that. And it was the most embarrassing moment. I was like, ‘Oh, gross.'”

Kristin also apologised for calling LC a “slu*t” several episodes after Cabo.

“I said some really dumb stuff,” the reality star explained. “And I look back and that’s like my biggest thing. When I watch it now, I wasn’t confident at all. I was actually so insecure. I took it out on you in a lot of ways.”

The camping trip to Catalina

While a bunch of scenes in Laguna were an exaggeration of the truth, there is one that turned out to be legit—LC’s ah, not-so-enjoyable experience on a camping trip to Catalina.

In the episode, the now-fashion designer was noticeably uncomfortable and spent most of the time complaining and looking for ways to rid herself of the experience.

“I was honestly just pouting the whole time. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ And then you guys were all having fun. Dieter and I were doing shots in the tent. Because he was like, ‘It’s gonna be okay!'” She explained on the podcast.

Was Lauren’s story real on ‘Laguna Beach’?

LC has confirmed that most of her lines on the show were fabricated for the sake of creating an interesting show.

Explaining how she was called in to be the narrator for season one, Lauren revealed that she was fed lines, which she usually didn’t object to.

“I don’t really remember it being a conversation. And I don’t think I understood what [being the narrator] meant. They were like, ‘We need you to come in and do some recording,'” she explained.

“There was probably a few things I would say, ‘I don’t think this is right,’ or, ‘I feel uncomfortable,'” she explained.

“But because you’re so young, you were like, ‘Well, this is what I signed up for. This is your job.'”

Lauren admitted there was an irony in how little she spoke in the show, aside from her narrator soundbites: “It’s funny that most of my words are actually written for me.”

Where are Lauren Conrad, Stephen Colletti and Kristin Cavallari now?

Lauren Conrad is the only one out of the former love triangle who still lives in Laguna Beach today. After moving to LA and becoming a fashion designer, LC now raises her two sons with husband William Tell.

Kristin Cavallari continues to reside in the US after splitting with her husband Jay Cutler in 2020. The pair share three children together. It was last reported that she bought a property in Nashville, and she’s now launched her own jewellery and beauty brand, named Uncommon James.

While she’s only now going ‘back to the beach’, Kristin also returned to the Hills in 2021 to star in the reprised reality-drama The Hills: New Beginnings

Stephen Colletti remains in the entertainment industry after pursuing acting after his reality TV stint. Most recently, he wrote, produced and starred in Everyone is Doing Great which dropped on Hulu in 2021. He currently dates NASCAR reporter, Alex Weaver.