The Truth About Audrina Patridge And Lauren Conrad's Relationship

MTV rebooted The Hills in 2019, bringing back most of the original main cast, including Audrina Patridge, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Whitney Port, Justin Bobby, Stephanie Pratt, and Brody Jenner. However, one cast member was noticeably missing — Lauren Conrad.

Nonetheless, Lauren — who shares two sons with her husband, William Tell — is not staying at home and crying (even though her tears are iconic). In fact, she's doing quite the opposite. These days, Lauren is busy taking care of her kids, running her non-profit, The Little Market, and designing her clothing line, LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl's, which is still thriving after launching in 2009.

"To be honest, my priorities have changed," Lauren told Entertainment Tonight in February 2020 when asked if she would ever make an appearance on The Hills reboot. "My family's number one and it takes a lot to be on reality television. It takes a lot emotionally," adding, "It's a lot of time commitment ..." 

But before Lauren and Heidi had their blowout fight on the show — remember when Lauren screamed, "You know what you did!" a thousand times to Heidi? — they were besties with Audrina since she lived in their apartment complex. Who could forget when Lauren told Audrina that Justin Bobby wore combat boots to the beach? Or when the gal pals would all get ready together for a big night out on the town? At the time, Audrina and Lauren were #FriendshipGoals. 

So, where do Lauren and Audrina stand today? Let's find out. 

Sorry, The Hills fans, but Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad don't seem to keep in touch anymore. Audrina told Entertainment Tonight in June 2019 that "no one's really talked to [Lauren] since the finale," adding that the cast "all went [their] complete separate ways" after they wrapped in 2010. 

Despite Audrina and Lauren living in the same apartment complex on The Hills, and then later moving in together with Lo Bosworth, their friendship unfortunately didn't stand the test of time. "I think there was a little of a falling out [between us]," Audrina told Celebuzz in 2012. "We kind of went our separate ways. The show brought us together and without the show, we all kind of go back to our own thing."

However, it seems like things are cordial between Audrina and Lauren these days. "I actually ran into Lauren at [a] Disney on Ice event and we caught up for a second," she told OK! magazine in February 2020. "I mean, she is beautiful, her baby is beautiful, she has another baby, she is living life, and she is a good mom. To each his own. I could see why she wouldn't want to come back to reality [television]."  

Even though Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad became fast friends on The Hills, their initial meeting was actually quite awkward. On the reality show, Audrina introduced herself to Lauren and Heidi Montag at the pool, but apparently producers recruited Audrina weeks before the show aired and asked if she would join the cast, according to Us Weekly. "Audrina just swam up to us [at the apartment complex], and I was like, 'What is this girl doing in our shot?' No one told us we were meeting a new cast member," Heidi recalled to Us Weekly in 2016.

Audrina explained that the executive producer, Adam DiVello, told her she "wasn't allowed to go to the pool for two weeks because they wanted us to meet on camera." She added, "I had to keep dodging the pool and lobby!"

Of course, Audrina and Lauren's relationship was far from perfect since Lauren didn't approve of Audrina's then-boyfriend, Justin Bobby, and Lo Bosworth caused some friction between the two ladies. The real kicker was when Audrina told Lauren she wanted to move out of their Hollywood Hills mansion. "It was a typical relationship between two girls who were starting to grow apart, so that was a really honest conversation," Lauren told Us Weekly. "I was sad because I felt like she didn't want to be my friend anymore," she added. 

Sadly, Lauren and Audrina's friendship would never be the same from that moment on.

While some fans were upset that Lauren Conrad didn't appear on The Hills: New Beginnings, Audrina Patridge was actually happy her former castmate wasn't on set this time around. "Without Lauren, like, she was always the one — she's the leader, the one that would tell you what to do, what not to do," Audrina told Good Morning America in June 2019. "So now it's kinda like we all get ... you kinda get to make your own choices and be your own self."

Of course, Heidi Montag — who had a massive fight with Lauren on the show, which led to the demise of their friendship — "was kind of excited" for Lauren not to be featured on the reboot. "... I felt like it was more freeing and fair, like, for me," she explained.

At the end of the day, Audrina is grateful for her time on the show, despite things not working out with Lauren. "On The Hills, we were like one big, giant family and nobody really understood what we were all going through," she told Today in 2017. "Even though we had drama, we all genuinely cared for each other and we all really did have an amazing time, going to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Vegas, everywhere. It was fun."

RIP #Auduren — we'll remember this reality show friendship forever.