Eighteen years ago, Kristin Cavallari was feuding with Lauren Conrad over Stephen Colletti, but now the Laguna Beach star calls the feud messed up.
Kristin Cavallari, 35, does not approve of her 17-year-old self’s feud with Lauren Conrad on Laguna Beach. Back when the reality TV series premiered on MTV in 2004, Kristin’s hatred toward Lauren seemed justified. The teenager was in an on-and-off again relationship with Stephen Colletti, and Lauren didn’t even try to hide her feelings for him. Even worse, producers on the show encouraged Lauren’s behavior and worked with her to set up dates between her and Stephen behind Kristin’s back. At the time, Kristin seemed like the villainous jealous girlfriend; in reality, she was a teenager being manipulated by producers on a reality show.
Things never did work out for Lauren and Stephen, and the two remained close friends for the rest of high school and into their early college years. As for Kristin and Stephen, they didn’t have their happily ever after either, but luckily, 18 years later, they’re on great terms and hosting their new Laguna Beach rewatch podcast together. Now that Kristin is officially divorced from her ex-husband Jay Cutler, she is free to reunite with whatever ex-boyfriend she chooses. Fans of the MTV series are pleased that Stephen is the one she decided to spend her time with.
As Kristin revisits the Laguna Beach episodes, she’s noticing that her feud with Lauren was problematic and that her anger was directed at the wrong person. Kristin discussed the topic with Stephen on their podcast Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen, and the Very Cavallari star did not hold back when she told her ex-boyfriend that she should have held him responsible for the Laguna Beach love triangle. “The fact that Lauren and I really went after each other is so messed up,” Kristin told her cohost. “I love you, but the person we should’ve gone after was you.” The star, who also appeared on The Hills for one and half seasons, called the girl against girl feud “so classic,” addressing how the media, including Laguna Beach, loves to pin women against each other instead of encouraging men to take responsibility.
A good example in recent years would be when Khloé Kardashian and her family went after Jordyn Woods when she hooked up with Tristan Thompson, but forgave Tristan and gave him several more chances. “Why are we not blaming the guy?” Kristin asked in regards to the Laguna Beach feud. The mother of three admits that she feels pretty bad about the situation and wishes she would have held Stephen responsible instead of blaming Lauren. While Kristin and Lauren seemingly hated each other on the show, in the years after Laguna Beach, they ended their feud and even spoke positively about each other on their respective episodes of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
The highlight of the MTV reality series for many fans was the love triangle between Stephen, Kristin, and Lauren. It brought so much drama to the show and seemingly influenced some other reality TV love triangles like Juliette Porter and Kelsey Owens’ feud over Alex Kompothecras during season 1 of Siesta Key. However, the obsession with pinning women up against each other over a man is incredibly outdated and very damaging. It is good to see that Kristin has grown a lot since her time on Laguna Beach and understands that her anger towards Lauren was problematic when her boyfriend was the one at the center of it all.
Source: Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen/Spotify
About The Author
