9 ‘Laguna Beach’ Secrets Revealed in ‘The Reunion’ Special

For the first time in more than 20 years, all of the original Laguna Beach cast members got together to reflect on their time filming the show in 2004 and 2005. In The Reunion: Laguna Beach, the former reality stars reminisced about their high school days and dropped some bombshells that some viewers may have forgotten or never even heard about before.

The reunion featured Kristin Cavallari, Lauren Conrad, Stephen Colletti, Dieter Schmitz, Jessica Smith, Christina Sinclair, Alex Hooser, Talan Torriero, and Trey Phillips in-studio and gathering at various iconic locations throughout Laguna Beach, including Trey’s house, the beach, the nail salon, and surf shop. Lo Bosworth and Morgan Olsen joined virtually.

Below, we rounded up some of the secrets that the cast revealed during the special.

The truth about Kristin, Lauren & Stephen’s love triangle

Kristin, Lauren, and Stephen broke down the love triangle “drama” that catapulted the show to success.

“Stephen and I were together for about a year before cameras ever came. So my sophomore year, his junior year, we really dated for about a year,” Kristin shared. “We broke up, I think, the beginning of my junior year, beginning of his senior year, which I think is when Talan and I may have had a little something, [Stephen and Lauren] had a little something. And then we got back together. This is all before MTV ever came. When MTV came, they obviously caught wind of that. Maybe there was a little more overlap, I can’t remember exactly, but MTV knew that was a juicy storyline, so I think they just kept it going as much as possible.”

She admitted she “must have” actually been upset about whatever happened between Stephen and Lauren while she and the One Tree Hill star were broken up, though. “I think there was some truth there, for sure,” Kristin said. “I felt threatened when the producers kept trying to get them to hang out because 17-year-old me thought maybe there was a chance Stephen would end up with Lauren again or something.”

Meanwhile, Lauren was just “upset about losing a friend” because she and Stephen had been “friends for years” and were going to college together. She also clarified, “Anytime there’s some sort of initial attraction, it doesn’t go away, but I was never trying to make him my boyfriend.” Rather, she was just “trying to figure out” how they could go back to being friends after they hooked up.

Kristin cheated on Stephen

Kristin admitted to cheating on Stephen, but he had to remind her, “You definitely did. I think it was somebody from your work at Salt Creek.” That sparked Kristin’s memory, as she recalled, “Yeah, it was a waiter. I was a hostess at a restaurant. I apologize.”

Stephen also made it clear that he “never, ever cheated” on Kristin. “Of course, when we were single, as everyone has in their life, [I] dated a couple people,” he recalled. “That has happened.”

Lauren and Kristin’s winter formal fight

Before MTV came to Laguna Beach High School, there was a fight between Lauren and Kristin at a winter formal where things got physical.

“[Kristin and Stephen] were starting to get back together and we were in the back of a big party bus talking,” Lauren explained. “I actually was saying, ‘If you guys are getting back together, that’s fine, I don’t need to be part of this.’ And [Kristin] came back and got really upset. It got a little heated.”

While Kristin and Stephen didn’t remember the situation, Lauren added, “There was a shoe thrown. We had people pulling us.”

Both women admitted that they “didn’t like each other” in high school. For Kristin, it was “the history” between Lauren and Stephen, which led to finding “other reasons not to like each other.” Meanwhile, Lauren said she was “intimidated” by Kristin’s confidence, which led to jealousy.

“Another part of it is [Kristin and Stephen] had a relationship where [they] would go up and down and he was my friend and I was only getting the negative,” she pointed out. “He would come and vent.”

Alex H.’s secret hookups

Alex H.’s role on the show was as Kristin’s best friend and sounding board, but he was having her own fun, too.

“Trey and I shared a smooch,” she spilled. “And then Dieter and I have … Dieter-ed.” New verb alert! Alex H. also raised her hand when the group was asked who had hooked up with Talan (which, by the way, was everyone except Jessica).

Christina and Talan dated

“I was Talan’s first girlfriend!” Christina declared. And Talan confirmed, “She was, like, my first real girlfriend. I remember, she was the first girl I kissed, like, in the quad with people looking, or like held her hand.”

While he didn’t give the exact timeline of how long the relationship lasted, Talan said it was during sophomore year.

Lauren and Kristin both dated Doug Reinhardt

The Hills fans will remember Lauren rekindling her relationship with Doug Reinhardt (the brother of Season 2 Laguna Beach cast member Casey Reinhardt) on the spinoff show, but she first dated him in high school … and so did Kristin.

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“I dated him my freshman year of high school,” Kristin shared. At the time, she was actually attending a different school, having transferred to Laguna Beach when she was a sophomore.

Jessica and Stephen briefly dated

Before there was Kristin and Lauren, Stephen had a brief romance with Jessica. “Stephen and I hung out over a summer for a blip,” Jessica admitted. “We dated? … Sure. I wouldn’t call it dating. We hung out a lot.” Stephen referred to it as a “flash in the pan.”

During Season 1 of Laguna Beach, Jessica and Dieter were in a relationship, but the reunion was the first time they saw each other in about 18 years, he revealed.

Alex H. and Christina’s secret struggles

Fans of Laguna Beach may not know that Alex was secretly dealing with a family crisis while filming the MTV series. “My dad was a pretty successful attorney for a while and he ended up making some poor decisions financially and eventually got in trouble with the law and had to spend some time in jail,” she revealed. “Our family went from living in a beautiful house on the ocean to downsizing pretty abruptly.”

She remembered having two separate lives: one that was portrayed as a “beautiful, privileged existence” on the show, while the other was “falling apart” at home. However, Alex said the show was a “welcome distraction” and credited Kristin with supporting her through the difficult time.

Christina also went through something very intense in the past, although her troubles came after Laguna Beach when she was a senior in college.

“I struggled with mental illness. I had a normal college experience and like a lot of college students I didn’t take care of myself. I was not sleeping, I was drinking too much, experimenting with drugs,” she revealed. “I had come back from a trip and I literally lost my mind. I thought that I was on The Truman Show. I thought people were possessed and trying to kill me.”

She said her troubles lasted for “six months to a year” and were “very severe,” adding, “I wouldn’t take a shower [because] I thought the water was poison. I was in and out of the hospital. It was very tumultuous.”

Lauren’s parents are now divorced

Fans got to know Lauren’s parents, Jim and Kathy Conrad, on Laguna Beach and The Hills, but they’ve split since her time on reality television.

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“Some of these people aren’t with us anymore, some of our families aren’t together anymore. My parents aren’t together anymore,” Lauren revealed at the reunion. “I love that I get to see us as a family. It’s so nice that I have that.”

Kathy seemingly got remarried in 2024, per a post on Lauren’s sister’s Instagram page.

The Reunion: Laguna Beach, Streaming Now, Roku Channel

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