Kristin Cavallari Just Linked Laguna Beach to RHOC in a Twist Fans Didn’t See Coming

Laguna Beach alum Kristin Cavallari just revealed a surprising link to The Real Housewives of Orange County OG Vicki Gunvalson, telling Us Weekly she used to be obsessed with the series while attending The Reunion: Laguna Beach L.A. premiere.

File this under small-world TV crossovers: Kristin Cavallari just dropped a nugget that connects Laguna Beach to The Real Housewives of Orange County in a way I did not see coming.

Kristin Cavallari and Vicki Gunvalson: yes, there is a link

At the L.A. premiere of 'The Reunion: Laguna Beach' on Thursday, March 26 at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, Kristin Cavallari, 39, said she used to be full-on obsessed with RHOC. She has not kept up in years, but she does know Gretchen Rossi personally (and notes that yes, Gretchen is long gone from the show). The surprise twist? Cavallari says she actually knew Vicki Gunvalson back in the day because she went to school freshman year with Vicki's daughter, Briana, before moving to Laguna Beach.

'She was one of my best friends. No one knows that.'

So, in Cavallari's words, she knew Vicki really well back then. Unexpected, but it tracks given the OC overlap.

The OG of the OC is back (and how the reveal went down)

Vicki Gunvalson, 64, was part of the original RHOC lineup when the show launched in 2006, alongside Jeana Keough, Lauri Waring, Jo De La Rosa, and Kimberly Bryant. Fast-forward to BravoCon in Las Vegas in November 2025: while taping The Bravos, Andy Cohen announced that Vicki will return to RHOC for season 20. The surprise landed with fans and even a few current OC cast members.

Gunvalson later explained that Cohen asked her, with about a week to spare, to present a Wifetime Achievement Award to Kandi Burruss at the event. She prepped remarks, stepped onstage, and then realized none of it was on the teleprompter. On top of that, she went in thinking it might be her last BravoCon moment — essentially a graceful exit. Then Cohen pivoted to the season 20 question, and it slowly hit her: this was a welcome-back, not a farewell. Her mindset flipped from 'last lap' to 'game on for at least a year.'

Back to Laguna: the reunion lands on Roku

Cavallari first broke out on MTV's 'Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County' in 2004. Now, more than 20 years later, she is reuniting with the OG crew for 'The Reunion: Laguna Beach,' which premieres April 10 on Roku. The cast list is basically a time capsule, and yes, they all actually showed up — after some convincing.

Lauren Conrad, 40, says several of them were cautious at first. They live pretty quiet lives now and had to seriously weigh jumping back into the spotlight. After they filmed, though, people were texting and emailing each other that it felt great and they were glad they did it — notably more positive than you might expect for a group that has seen its share of reality TV chaos.

Who is back for The Reunion: Laguna Beach

• Lauren Conrad
• Stephen Colletti
• Lo Bosworth
• Talan Torriero
• Trey Phillips
• Christina Schuller
• Dieter Schmitz
• Jessica Smith
• Alex Hooser
• Morgan Smith
• Kristin Cavallari

So to recap: Kristin quietly went to school with Vicki Gunvalson's daughter, Vicki is back in the OC fold for season 20 after an onstage swerve at BravoCon 2025, and the Laguna Beach gang is officially back together on April 10. Orange County really is a small world.