Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari Finally Reveal Their Biggest Laguna Beach Regrets

Two of Laguna Beach's original chaos agents are back in the same room, and yes, they have thoughts. Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari are promoting The Reunion: Laguna Beach, hitting Roku on Friday, April 10, and both of them are looking at their MTV high school years with a lot more perspective (and a little bit of secondhand embarrassment).

Lauren: No regrets, but... yeah, some cringe

Lauren Conrad, now 40 and forever 'LC' to a generation of MTV viewers, says she doesn't really regret what ended up on the show. She was 18 and still in high school when cameras rolled, which you can feel in how quiet she often is in scenes. Funny enough, she was the season 1 narrator, but on camera she hardly talked because she was so self-conscious. She stands by seasons 1 and 2 overall. The one thing she would redo? How she talked about Kristin.

'We were pretty unkind about one another, and it isn't how we treat each other now, or how we would treat other women now.'

That came up at the reunion too: both Lauren and Kristin say their big shared regret is how they spoke about each other back then. Different era, different vocab, different instincts. Grown-up them would handle it differently.

Kristin: Calls herself 'cringey,' rethinks Cabo

Kristin Cavallari, 39 and running her Uncommon James brand these days, rewatched the show as an adult and had the same reaction most of us have to our teenage selves: ouch. She calls a lot of her on-camera behavior 'cringey' and specifically doesn't like how she talked about Lauren. If she could tweak anything, she'd change how she spoke about LC... and, hilariously specific note, 'enunciate a little bit more.' She also points out they were kids, so everyone gets a bit of grace.

Her biggest shift came after she and Stephen Colletti launched their 'Back to the Beach' rewatch podcast in 2022. Remember the season 1 spring break trip to Cabo? The episode where Stephen called her a 'slut' for dancing on the bar and making out with someone else? Kristin says watching that now, she actually feels proud of how she handled it. She was 17 and clearly drunk, her ex was yelling profanities in her face, and she kept trying to take herself out of the situation instead of escalating. That rewatch let her put that whole moment to rest.

Where she lands now: no real regrets. There are scenes she's not thrilled about, sure, but all of it pushed her to take a hard look at herself and grow up. She's grateful for the experience, warts and all.

A quick refresher on the triangle that launched a thousand think pieces

Season 1 (2004) follows Lauren finishing her senior year at Laguna Beach High. One of her closest friends was Stephen Colletti (also a senior), who she was crushing on. Stephen was dating junior Kristin, and the show immediately leaned into that dynamic, setting the girls against each other and letting the trash talk fly. Time and distance have made that whole setup look a lot messier than it did on Tuesday nights.

• The Reunion: Laguna Beach premieres Friday, April 10 on Roku.
• Lauren Conrad is 40; Kristin Cavallari is 39; Stephen Colletti is 40.
• Lauren says she doesn't regret seasons 1 or 2, but wishes she treated Kristin better.
• Kristin says she was 'cringey,' would change how she talked about Lauren, and, yes, enunciate more.
• Cabo episode reframe: after rewatching for her 2022 podcast with Stephen, Kristin feels proud she de-escalated at 17 while intoxicated.
• The cast has been out doing press for the reunion; they also turned up for a special event in Los Angeles.

Bottom line: the infamous triangle, the whispery narration, the spring break blowups — they remember it all, and they finally sound at peace with it. See where the conversations go next when the reunion drops.