“Laguna Beach” alum Alex Hooser said co-star Kristin Cavallari was “by his side” when his father was arrested backstage at the MTV show.
Hooser said her father’s short stint in prison and house arrest was due to “bad financial decisions”, but explained that “that was never talked about” on the hit series, which aired from 2004 to 2006.
Now, with Cavallari’s help, she feels “really blessed to have a platform to talk about this.” Even after all these years, he and Cavallari remain close.
“But Christine, she’s ride or die. No matter what happens, it’s not today yet. There was no judgment or anything. She knew everything that was going on, but she just endured,” Hooser, 39, told People on Friday.
“Again, 20 years later, we still have a connection and a friendship and I’m forever grateful for that. So, yeah, Kristin is the real deal. She’s a good friend,” Hooser added.
The friends reunited last month for the two-hour Roku special “The Reunion: Laguna Beach,” which premiered Friday, bringing the original cast, including Stephen Colletti, Lauren Conrad, Ro Bosworth and Taran Toriello, together on screen for the first time in 20 years.
In the reunion trailer, Hooser became emotional when the host brought up the fact that “her father got into something” and that “her life off camera…went in a direction that was never portrayed.”
Instagram/Lauren Alexandria Hooser
“My whole family life was just falling apart,” Huser replied.
For the special’s Los Angeles premiere, Cavallari wore a white strapless minidress, a deliberate callback to the first episode of the MTV show.
The first episode in 2004 also established Cavallari and Conrad’s iconic feud, which spilled over into the “Laguna Beach” spinoff “The Hills.”
However, over the past two decades, the two women have made amends and even got cozy with each other during the reunion premiere.
The Uncommon James founder also said on an October 2025 episode of the Let’s Be Honest podcast that filming the reunion was “very therapeutic” for her.
“I don’t mean to sound cheesy, but it was really healing in so many ways. It was very therapeutic,” she told podcast listeners.
“I think this is funny because, to be completely honest, I actually didn’t want to do it,” the “Very Cavallari” alum continued. “I’m really, really happy. It was such a great experience and just the perfect way to end the whole ‘Laguna Beach’ thing.”
