Kristin Cavallari catapulted to fame as a result of her tenure on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.
The reality TV series opened many doors for her career, but where would she be if the show never existed?
The 27-year-old reality TV star recently appeared on Oprah: Where Are They Now? where she answered that question, reports E! News. She also recalled how she landed her spot on the popular MTV series.
“I was a junior in high school and MTV showed up and did open casting,” she said during the interview.
“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.”
Cavallari also shared some details about her first time filming. “We had no idea what we were doing,” Cavallari admitted. “We were just going along with whatever MTV was telling us to do.”
She also shared her perspective of how MTV producers allegedly used their young ages and inexperience to their advantage.
“My boyfriend at the time [Coletti] would take Lauren Conrad to dinner and buy her flowers, which never would have happened if it weren’t for the show and MTV,” the reality star says. “I felt very used and manipulated.”
“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,” she said.
She also revealed how it made her feel to be labeled the “bad girl.”
“Being labeled the “bad girl” made her feel, well, bad. “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,” Cavallari admitted.
Oprah: Where Are They Now airs Sunday, Dec. 6 on OWN!