Reality TV Romances
Did Lauren Conrad & Brody Jenner Really Date on ‘The Hills?’ The Truth About Their Romance
Viewers of The Hills spent three and a half seasons waiting to see if Lauren Conrad and Brody Jenner would ever actually get together. Jenner joined the show in Season 2 and remained a cast member until Conrad’s departure in the middle of Season 5.
But while the two shared a few kisses and went on some dates, their relationship never progressed into anything more. With May 31 being the 19th anniversary of The Hills’ premiere in 2006, we’re looking back at the truth behind Jenner and Conrad’s romance.
The show’s series finale leaned into the discourse that it was scripted by having Jenner’s final scene with Kristin Cavallari take place on a set in a Hollywood studio lot. It was later revealed that an alternate ending to the series had also been filmed, which showed Cavallari leaving town and Jenner returning home to find Conrad waiting for him.
So, was Jenner and Conrad’s romance real or fake? Scroll down for more!
Did Brody Jenner and Lauren Conrad really date?
Nope, they were never actually a couple! “We never actually dated,” Jenner told ET Online. “In the beginning, we had a little kind of chemistry, and we hung out, and I think it played pretty well on-screen. I think that they, the producers, really wanted us to keep that going, even though we just wanted to be friends.”
Conrad shared a similar sentiment, telling Us Weekly in 2016, “We were always more friends than anything. It was always a blurred, weird relationship.”
While she admitted that Jenner was “always very sweet” to her and that they “enjoyed each other’s company,” she said they “didn’t really have that kind of chemistry” the producers wanted. “At the same time, we were friends, and we were happy to film together,” she added.
Spencer Pratt said on the Call Her Daddy podcast in 2022 that he was the one who pushed Jenner to pursue Conrad at first. “It was all good, to the point where I talked Brody into breaking up with Nicole Richie to fake double-date with LC,” he claimed. Pratt even tipped the paparazzi off to the fact that the foursome was hanging out one night, but said Jenner and Conrad “didn’t work out from night one.”
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The relationship that was portrayed on the show wasn’t exactly fake, as Conrad and Jenner really were always just friends onscreen, but the editors definitely leaned into the idea that they could get together, when that seemingly wasn’t actually happening.
Are Lauren Conrad and Brody Jenner still friends?
Although they were close during their years of filming and had nothing but kind things to say about each other afterward, Conrad and Jenner have drifted apart in recent years. Once she left the show in 2009, she moved on from the world of reality television to focus on building her fashion empire and her family with husband William Tell.
In January 2025, Jenner told E!, “Lauren I never talked to [after the show]. I don’t think I’ve talked to her in 10 years.”
Did Brody Jenner and Jen Bunney hook up?
One of The Hills’ major storylines was the falling out between Conrad and longtime friend “Jen Bunney” after Bunney supposedly hooked up with Jenner due to Heidi Montag and Pratt’s matchmaking. In 2023, Bunney and Jenner reunited on The Hills Rewatch podcast to set the record straight.
They both insisted that they NEVER hooked up, either on or off the show. Jenner thought he recalled kissing Bunney in a car one time, but she said that never happened, and he later agreed. He also apologized to her for never denying the rumors in the past. “I think I was just trying to keep the cliffhanger going. I didn’t know [what people were saying to you],” he admitted, referring to the intense backlash that Bunney was facing at the time.
Bunney theorized that Conrad’s real reason for getting upset at the hookup rumor was because she was getting closer to Montag and Pratt while the Laguna Beach alum was starting to distance herself from them.
Conrad and Bunney aren’t friends anymore, but the latter confirmed that they are “cordial” when they see each other. “In my heart, we are good,” she said. “I feel like there’s no animosity, there’s no tension.”
