Lo Bosworth Details Her Ongoing Struggle With "Trauma" Caused by The Hills

Lo Bosworth shared that she still deals with "trauma" stemming from her time on The Hills, which has led her to firmly distance herself from the current spinoff.

Watch: Lo Bosworth Details Her Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury

Lo Bosworth has absolutely no desire to release her inhibitions or feel the rain on her skin. 

The 34-year-old reality TV personality, who rose to prominence on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County before becoming a regular part of spinoff The Hills, reminisced about her years in the limelight during an appearance on the podcast Unzipped that was released on Wednesday, June 30. 

In explaining her shift to a career as an entrepreneur rather than a life in front of the camera, Lo told co-hosts Shenae Grimes and AnnaLynne McCord that her time on the MTV staples made her realize she doesn’t actually enjoy being on TV. As such, she did not join former co-stars Audrina Patridge, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt and the rest of the gang in returning for sequel series The Hills: New Beginnings, which is currently airing its second season. 

“It’s interesting to me to see the people that have chosen to continue to participate in The Hills,” she said. Lo continued with a laugh, “I’m like, ‘Wow, you guys are really leaning into your TV persona for whatever reason, right? For a paycheck, for attention, fame—whatever it is that you need that fulfills you.'”

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Stars Who Quit Hollywood

The star, whose given name is Lauren, shared that producers’ decisions in how to shape the characters and story lines became a downside as well. “More so, I was just not interested in other people in an editing thing deciding, ‘OK, for Lauren the person, who are we going to present her and what she’s going to be doing,'” she recalled. 

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Lo went on to say she would be “totally happy and content if nobody on this Earth knew who I was,” given that she’s now passionate about projects including Love Wellness, the personal care brand she founded. As she explained, her experience as a member of UCLA’s Class of 2008, which overlapped with the peak of The Hills‘ popularity, played into her decision to leave Hollywood in the rearview. 

“All of this stuff, like still to this day, makes me feel a little uncomfortable,” Lo said. “Probably, it comes back to just being young, being on TV for the first time, being at college, kids making fun of you. I think that initial trauma has never really left. I would prefer to just be an anonymous person, but I opened Pandora’s box. I can never close it again.”

She added, “But in the way that the people who are doing The Hills are leaning in, I’m leaning in just a totally different direction.” 

This is hardly the first time the TV personality has made it clear she has no desire to film again with her former co-stars. On an episode of her Lady Lovin’ podcast in February 2018, Lo said she no longer wanted “any association with any of those people.” 

Why Kate Bosworth Says She "Wanted to Disappear" at the Height of Her Fame

Blue Crush actress Kate Bosworth reflected on what it was like to become famous during a "real time of cruelty" and why she sympathizes with young actresses.

Being a famous actress comes with a lot of perks, but as history has proven, it’s not the easiest job in the world.

Kate Bosworth opened up about how “intense and overwhelming” it can be to live in the spotlight on the Ladies First With Laura Brown podcast, where she talked about her rise to fame following the premiere of the surf drama Blue Crush.

The movie came out in 2002 and was a smash hit, landing the then-21-year-old actress roles in movies like Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! and Superman Returns. But behind the scenes, Kate says she was actually having a “really, really hard time.”

“I did not know how to handle that at all,” she reflects. “And I also did not know how to really communicate through that very well to support systems or to my friends or family.”

The 38-year-old actress continues, “I was losing a lot of weight because I was really under a lot of scrutiny, and I was so stressed and spun out that if you see images of me then, it’s like seeing someone under duress.”

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See the Cast of Blue Crush, Then & Now

She adds that she didn’t know how to address those health issues, because “I think that a lot of times people in the spotlight get this sort of thing, like, ‘Well, that’s what you chose,’ and that’s what it is.”

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Now, she says she has a “lot of empathy” for young people coming of age in Hollywood, because she remembers experiencing the “heartbreaking” criticism. She recalls, “I felt like I wanted to disappear, I really did.”

Kate acknowledges the aughts were a “real time of cruelty,” noting how critical people were of Lindsay Lohan and other stars. But she also says she “cannot imagine” what it’s like for young actresses to come up in a time where Instagram portrays “unattainable, crazy amounts of perfection.” 

As difficult as it was, Kate said she’d be down for a sequel when she, Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake reunited for a virtual catch-up last August. As Kate put it, “I’ll put my life on the line again. I don’t mind,” while Michelle remarked, “You don’t have to ask me twice.”