Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad’s new reality series won’t be airing on MTV after all — and the former The Hills star is none too happy about it.
MTV has confirmed that it has opted to pass on the untitled new Conrad series, which had been announced by the network in September and was supposed to follow the professional life of the reality star turned best-selling novelist and clothing designer as she launched a new clothing line and worked on some other businesses.
“We decided not to go ahead with the show,” MTV executive David Janollari told Entertainment Weekly on Friday.“She did do a pilot. There were talks about whether we could somehow manage to put together a special based on that footage but that’s also a big question mark based on her interest in that and the finances. We love her! We would love her on our network!”
However Janollari’s good feelings about the breakup aren’t shared by the former Laguna Beach and The Hills star.
According to Conrad, MTV attempted to change the format of the new show — which she had repeatedly publicly insisted would represent a departure from her prior MTV reality series and not focus on her personal life, including her relationship with actor Kyle Howard, whom she began dating “off-screen” during her later days on The Hills — to include her personal life.
In addition, she’s also claiming MTV felt it needed to dumb down the show for its viewers.
“We sold a show to MTV, filmed it and are really proud of the final result. MTV felt the subject matter was too high brow for their audience and offered me the opportunity to change the show by incorporating more of my personal life,” Conrad said in a media statement.
“We agreed going into the project that this show would be an aspirational one, focusing on my career and my goals and not my personal relationships. We delivered the show that we sold and are sorry MTV didn’t feel their viewers were savvy enough to appreciate it.”
Conrad left The Hills — which MTV ended after six seasons last year — during its fifth season in 2009, ending a five-year period in which she starred on both The Hills and its Laguna Beach predecessor, which followed her as a 17-year-old high school senior in Laguna Beach, CA.
“It’s bittersweet,” she told Us Weekly at the time, explaining that The Hills had been made things difficult on her “off-camera” romantic relationship with Howard.
“I’ve spent the last five years making every decision be about the show. People I date have to be able to film, the places I work have to let us film and the places I live have to have set lighting. I’m ready to do things on my own. I loved doing it and had so much fun, but it came to a point where I had done it long enough.”
However Conrad had admitted that while she didn’t see herself participating in another The Hills-like series again, she wasn’t ruling out doing another reality show in the future — a point she had reiterated to Ryan Seacrest while discussing new MTV project on his On-Air with Ryan Seacrest radio show in September.
“I’ve always been open to doing reality again, it’s just under certain circumstances. I think as long as you have a separation then it works. You have your personal life and your work life, and when they’re combined it’s difficult,” she said.
Conrad had also hinted at a possible reality return — and her desire for more control over what was filmed — during an Us Weekly interview earlier last fall.
“The only way I’d return to reality TV would be if it allowed me to decide when the cameras stop,” she said.
MTV has confirmed that it has opted to pass on the untitled new Conrad series, which had been announced by the network in September and was supposed to follow the professional life of the reality star turned best-selling novelist and clothing designer as she launched a new clothing line and worked on some other businesses.However Janollari’s good feelings about the breakup aren’t shared by the former Laguna Beach and The Hills star.
According to Conrad, MTV attempted to change the format of the new show — which she had repeatedly publicly insisted would represent a departure from her prior MTV reality series and not focus on her personal life, including her relationship with actor Kyle Howard, whom she began dating “off-screen” during her later days on The Hills — to include her personal life.
In addition, she’s also claiming MTV felt it needed to dumb down the show for its viewers.
“We sold a show to MTV, filmed it and are really proud of the final result. MTV felt the subject matter was too high brow for their audience and offered me the opportunity to change the show by incorporating more of my personal life,” Conrad said in a media statement.
“We agreed going into the project that this show would be an aspirational one, focusing on my career and my goals and not my personal relationships. We delivered the show that we sold and are sorry MTV didn’t feel their viewers were savvy enough to appreciate it.”
Conrad left The Hills — which MTV ended after six seasons last year — during its fifth season in 2009, ending a five-year period in which she starred on both The Hills and its Laguna Beach predecessor, which followed her as a 17-year-old high school senior in Laguna Beach, CA.
“It’s bittersweet,” she told Us Weekly at the time, explaining that The Hills had been made things difficult on her “off-camera” romantic relationship with Howard.
“I’ve spent the last five years making every decision be about the show. People I date have to be able to film, the places I work have to let us film and the places I live have to have set lighting. I’m ready to do things on my own. I loved doing it and had so much fun, but it came to a point where I had done it long enough.”
However Conrad had admitted that while she didn’t see herself participating in another The Hills-like series again, she wasn’t ruling out doing another reality show in the future — a point she had reiterated to Ryan Seacrest while discussing new MTV project on his On-Air with Ryan Seacrest radio show in September.
“I’ve always been open to doing reality again, it’s just under certain circumstances. I think as long as you have a separation then it works. You have your personal life and your work life, and when they’re combined it’s difficult,” she said.
Conrad had also hinted at a possible reality return — and her desire for more control over what was filmed — during an Us Weekly interview earlier last fall.
“The only way I’d return to reality TV would be if it allowed me to decide when the cameras stop,” she said.
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