Laguna Beach Then And Now

Ten years ago today, the world got their first look inside the lives of the privileged teens of Laguna Beach, CA. Perhaps as a response to the popularity of FOX’s hit teen comedy/drama The O.C., MTV debuted their unscripted series Laguna Beach during the fall of 2004, just one year after The O.C. debuted on FOX. In fact, the official title of the series is Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. While neither series lasted very long (four seasons for The O.C., three seasons for Laguna, the third having a new cast that no one really cared about), the legacy that was left by Laguna would extend into the next decade and leave a lasting impression on reality TV and celebutainment in general. Let’s take a look at our favorite cast members, who they were as characters, and where they are today.

Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, Stephen Colletti

Lauren Conrad was the voice of the series during its first season. The “story” centered around L.C. (her nickname on the show) and her friends. Most of Lauren’s drama involved her bff Stephen Colletti and his girlfriend Kristin Cavallari. Kristin and Lauren were intense rivals, though Kristin instigated most of the drama, because she was always extremely jealous of Stephen’s close bond with his bff L.C. Stephen and Kristin were on again, off again, and both had involvements with other people throughout their time series, such as Kristin’s relationship with Talan Torriero. Stephen left the series to attend school in San Francisco, as did L.C., and even though Stephen claimed to want to try long distance with Kristin, things didn’t really work out, and the two eventually broke up. Stephen and L.C. always wanted to take things to the next level, but ultimately never got there, at least not on camera. L.C. dated Jason Whaler on both Laguna and spinoff series The Hills, and was L.C.’s most dramatic relationship on the series.

Talan Torriero, Jason Wahler, Jessica Smith,

Surrounding the triple-C love triangle were many other friends, although some were featured more heavily than others. Talan Torriero was something of a cassanova during his stint on Laguna, hooking up with many girls, and not very subtly, either. He ended up dating Kristin in season 2, but neither of them were very happy or respectful to each other during the course of their relationship. Jason Wahler, who was featured prominently in season 2, had a relationship with Jessica Smith, who was sometimes referred to as the “new Kristin,” although she never quite lived up to Kristin in terms of instigating drama. The two struggled to keep things together, though Jessica constantly tried to keep Jason from straying. He eventually did, with Alex M, and eventually got together with L.C., who he then cheated on with Jessica. Yikes.

Trey Phillips, Lo Bosworth

These two were perhaps the most “normal” of the group. Trey Phillips was known as the “chillest bro” on the series, and had a passion for fashion. He was Stephen’s best male friend, never caused any drama, and he used his talents to help others. Lo Bosworth, L.C.’s best friend, always had plenty of good advice for her friends, and never crossed the line of friendship.

Taylor Cole, Dieter Schmitz

And then of course there were the less popular cast members, the ones who sort of filled in the cracks and provided much needed background noise. Taylor Cole was pretty much a blonde nobody. She dated Talan for a while, but she could never withstand the drama of hurricane Kristin. Dieter Schmitz was similarly unappealing, and was generally thought of as just another beach bro, mucking it up with his more interesting counterparts.

Alex Hooser, Alex Murrel

And who are Alex H and Alex M, you ask? Referred to as The Alexes (mostly by themselves), the answer is, pretty much nobody. Sure, Alex M dated Jason for a while, but that relationship didn’t last long and never satisfied audiences the way that Jason’s relationship with Jessica and LC did. We doubt that even The Alexes care that they were a part of this series.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Lauren – Starred on MTV’s The Hills and became a best-selling author. Her first novel is titled L.A. Candy.

Stephen – Starred on One Tree Hill for 4 seasons, continuing to act.

Kristin – Showed up for the last season of The Hills to wreak havoc, married football star Jay Cutler.

Talan – married and works in marketing

Lo – launched YouTube channel based on her blog, The Lo Down

Jason Whaler – Did a stint on Celebrity Rehab, currently sober

Jessica – Never pursued fame, married with children

Trey – fashion designer for Vera Wang

Taylor – runs a jewelry company with her mom

Dieter – manages the Lakehouse Hotel and Resort in San Diego

Alex H – lives in Hawaii with her BF