Laguna Beach

Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari Apologize to Each Other 16 Years After ‘Laguna Beach'

The co-stars unpacked their rivalry on the podcast "Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen," which they said wasn't much of a rivalry at all

Kristin Cavallari (L) and Lauren Conrad
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Lauren Conrad, 36, and Kristin Cavallari, 35, say there's no bad blood between them — and there hardly ever was.

Conrad reunited with Cavallari and co-star Stephen Colletti, 36, on the most recent episode of the pair’s “Laguna Beach” rewatch podcast, “Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen.”

The trio were all high school students in California when the MTV reality series, which aired from 2004 until 2006, premiered. Much of the reality TV's plot centered around their alleged love triangle, which supposedly created animosity between Conrad and Cavallari.

But according to Cavallari, her feud with Conrad didn’t last nearly as long as viewers were led to believe.

“My take on it is, you and I really never had any beef, really” Cavallari told Conrad. “Obviously, there was a little truth to what happened with the three of us. I felt like MTV coming kept it alive and made it way worse than it ever would have been. Is that also your take? And you can be brutally honest about it.”

“Yeah, I think it was done when they started filming,” responded Conrad, explaining that the two had a brief fight right before filming started and then moved on.

“We got into it and then made up,” said Conrad. “I mean, I don’t think we were best friends. But we were like, ‘It’s fine.’”

After Cavallari said that the pair "never had an issue” with one another, Conrad interjected. “I mean, we had an issue with each other. But it had been squashed. They ran with it. It made for an interesting show.”

"I think (the producers) kind of saw this as a starting point and then they ran with it," Conrad added. "Which I get. It made for an interesting show."

Just before filming began, high school sweethearts Colletti and Cavallari temporarily ended their on-again, off-again romance, with Colletti and Conrad, who knew each other as kids, becoming closer (Colletti said they dated for two weeks in seventh grade, but Conrad has no memory of the brief middle school fling).

“I don’t think I realized you guys were boyfriend and girlfriend," Conrad told her co-stars. "I didn’t know you guys had a whole relationship."

But Conrad said she and Colletti never actually dated and that she never pined for Colletti, though the show made it look as if she did. “Like, I’m often kind of off in a corner just, like, creepily watching you guys,” Conrad joked. "Which is kind of embarrassing."

Conrad said she had "several boyfriends" during Season One of the series, and she found herself hoping they wouldn't believe the storyline about her being in love with Colletti when it aired.

'They really hammered the love triangle home," agreed Cavallari.

"They didn’t want me to have anything else," Conrad said.

Rewatching the show, Conrad said she was cheering Cavallari and Colletti's relationship on. “I think one of my takeaways from looking back is I’m like, ‘It’s really sweet.’ You guys were in love and you had a relationship,” she said.

The stars said that talking about their time on the show has been a positive experience, with Cavallari saying she feels less alone.

“I felt like I was off on a little island and I was the only one who was manipulated and edited,” she said. “Talking to Stephen, and then now having everyone come on (the podcast), I’ve realized everyone was in the same boat.”

Later in the episode, Conrad shared her "biggest regret" from the show: The episode in which she lashed out at Cavallari for dancing on a bar top in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"I called you a s---," she recalled, and went on to say, "I'm so sorry."

Watching the episode again, Conrad said, "I couldn't believe I did that. Because I think where I'm at now, I would never call another woman that ... It was, for me, the most embarrassing moment. I was like, 'Oh gross.'"

Cavallari accepted Conrad's apology, then issued one of her own. "Well, thank you. I called you a s--- in a later episode and I'm also sorry. I said some really dumb stuff," she said. "I wasn't confident at all. I was actually so insecure and I took it out on you in a lot of ways."

However, Cavallari later clarified, "I was not the only one dancing on a bar, thank you!’”

“I mean, I didn’t do it on camera!” Conrad said, laughing.

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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