Lauren Conrad needed to ’emotionally recover’ from ‘toxic elements’ after The Hills

She was the breakout star from an MTV reality show focused on what happens after high school for a group of kids growing up in Southern California.

And Lauren Conrad admitted that she had to ’emotionally recover’ from ‘toxic elements’ after she quit filming The Hills in 2009. 

The 34-year-old fashion designer caught up with former co-star Whitney Port on the With Whit podcast where she detailed how important it was to get her life back once she stepped away from the cameras.

Whitney reminded her audience that it had been 15 years since the girls began filming their hit show.

She began her podcast noting that Lauren seemingly cut-off most of her friendship when she left Los Angeles nearly a decade ago.

‘I just kinda needed a clean break for a minute to kind of emotionally recover and took some time off, and then obviously moved out of LA,’ Conrad said.

Whitney mentioned that while she harbored no ill-will, she thought Conrad might have dropped her as a friend due to the abrupt departure.   

‘And I apologize for that or making you feel that way, because obviously it had nothing to do with you personally,’ Conrad said. ‘I lived a certain way for so long and like as much as I am appreciative and I love you. 

‘I love so many people we worked with like, You know, there is certain like toxic elements there and it’s really hard. And I was like, okay, I got to just like step away from this world and like kind of heal in a way and like who I want to be.

‘Because again, like we started so young and I was like, it’s such a time where you’re figuring out who you are. And I was like, I did it in such a weird way.’

Lauren shares two sons, Liam, three, and Charlie, 11 months, with husband William Tell and Whitney has one three-year-old son, Sonny, with husband Tim Rosenman. 

Conrad’s last appearance on The Hills was at Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag’s wedding where she made amends with the couple after Spencer apologized for spreading rumors. 

The show went on for another season with Kristen Cavallari at the helm and ended in July 2010.

Port received her own spin-off, The City, which showcased her new life working for Diane von Fürstenberg in New York.

Just last year, most of The Hills cast returned to television screens with The Hills: New Beginnings. 

Brody Jenner and his then wife Kaitlynn Carter starred on the show alongside Jason Wahler, Frankie Delgado, and new castmembers Mischa Barton and Pamela Anderson’s son Brandon Thomas Lee.

The show was initially developed as a spin-off to Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, and followed Lauren Conrad as she battled professional and personal relationships in Los Angeles post college.