Former Laguna Beach reality television star Kristin Cavallari opened up to Oprah Winfrey during an Oprah: Where Are They Now? segment, and revealed that her memories of the MTV series are not very fond.
Cavallari was 17 at the time production of Laguna Beach began, and was dating fellow Orange County, California high school student Stephen Colletti. Cavallari alleges that MTV producers fabricated a love triangle between herself, Colletti and Laguna Beach princess/narrator Lauren Conrad.
Cavallari commented, “Laguna Beach was… it was tough. I felt very used and manipulated.” The television personality, now 27, added, “Basically my boyfriend at the time, the producers would have him go and take out Lauren Conrad, take her to dinner, bring her flowers, which never would’ve happened if it wasn’t for the show, for MTV.”
While explaining some of her at times abrasive behavior on Laguna Beach, Cavallari remarked, “Being 16, 17 in high school, not knowing really how to handle your emotions or even realizing what’s going on… I put up a wall. I put up a really tough exterior because I felt like they were really trying to take advantage of me. It was a really difficult time, and then when I saw it air, and saw the way that they represented me, I was really, really upset. I cried for hours and hours after I saw the first episode. It was hard, it was really hard.”
Cavallari, now a mother of two boys, married Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in June, 2013.
Commenting on the origins of the reality series, the former Dancing with the Stars contestant said, “I was a junior in high school and MTV showed up and did open casting for Laguna Beach. You go and you grab this 20-page packet and then they would take your polaroid and from there they did on-camera interviews. They sort of narrowed it down to these eight people. We weren’t all a group of friends, but there was all some sort of a tie with all of us.”
LC’s casting interview:
“I still, to this day, think you should have to be 18 to do a reality show,” Cavallari added. “Only because of my experience.”