WHEN Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County hit MTV over 20 years ago, it was the first scripted reality show to ever hit TV.
Now one of the show’s stars has opened up about what it was like reuniting with her co-stars recently, over two decades later – but can you guess who it is?
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The Laguna Beach star in question is Lauren Olsen, who was known as Alex ‘H’ on the show.
Now in her late 30s, she was mainly on the show for the first two seasons, and briefly appeared in the third.
Lauren, who had to use her middle name Alex as her first name because of the show’s main star Lauren Conrad, was just 16 when she found fame in 2004.
Laguna Beach fans will remember her for being Kristin Cavallari’s ride or die friend, who was always the voice of reason.
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Once the show wrapped, she left Laguna behind, and headed to Hawaii.
Now known by her married name Lauren Hosser, she and her husband share two children.
She recently opened up about reuniting with Kristin, as well as fellow Laguna Beach co-stars Jessica Smith and Alex Murrel.
The women got together to help Kristin promote her brand, Uncommon James.
Speaking to podcaster Danielle Paci, Lauren said: “Yeah, so the first photo shoot or the campaign that we did with Kristen for Uncommon James was the first time all of us were together again, literally probably for 20 years.
“You know, I’ve seen bits and pieces of people. I hadn’t seen Kristen for like probably 18, 19 years at that point either, but I’ve seen like Alex.
Trailer for iconic American reality series Laguna Beach
“I don’t know if I saw Jessica, but anyways, it was like the first time we all got together in a very long time.
“So that was so special and cool because it was just like, you know, and I guess you kind of stay in touch, but when you see someone it’s so different.”
Continuing, she said: “So that experience was just amazing because we got to come together and do, you know, this campaign shoot for Kristen’s jewelry.
“So it’s like all of a sudden we’re together and next thing you know, there’s like this whole like production set and everything.”
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BACK TO THE BEACH
Laguna Beach ran from 2004 until 2006, and was about the lives of privileged teens living in Orange County.
Inspired by teen noughties drama The O.C, the show broke new ground as it was the first scripted reality show to air.
It went onto spawn the hugely successful spin-off show The Hills, which focused on the life of Lauren Conrad. and later Kristin Cavallari.
These two women were no doubt the biggest stars to come out of Laguna Beach.
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Despite the show’s huge success, it turns out that the cast’s paychecks were not as much as fans might think.
Kristin and her fellow Laguna Beach alum, Stephen Colletti, previously dished on the shocking earnings they received on their podcast, Back to the Beach.
The pair joked about the then-teenager’s low expectations for the series in the beginning.
“Do you remember how much we got paid for that first season?” Stephen – who later was known for One Tree Hill – asked Kristin.
“I think $2.5k,” the mom-of-three recalled, though Stephen thought their earnings were even less.
“I don’t even know if it was that much. I think it was $2k,” he rebutted.
“Maybe I got paid more than you,” Kristin joked.
They then admitted that they eventually negotiated their salaries going into the show’s second season.
Fans can watch Laguna Beach right now on Prime Video.
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