Way before TOWIE, Made in Chelsea or anything Kardashian-related, MTV launched Laguna Beach - a reality show that followed a group of rich, beautiful teens around California's Orange County. Before long, the star of this show, Lauren Conrad, landed her own show as she moved from her parents' beach-side mansion to start her fashion career as an intern at Teen Vogue in LA. Trashy or not, it was reality television GOLD.
There was Lauren, plus her pals Whitney, Heidi, Audrina and her archrival Kristin (her high school enemy from Laguna) and they all lived this ultra glamorous, glossy life, driving around the Hollywood hills in convertibles. These girls all worked in fashion and they had amazing hair. It was enough to make an 18 year-old girl from grey, dreary England feel very jealous.
A few years on and The Hills is no more. Lauren left the show and the others? Her then on-off boyfriend Brody Jenner is still trying to make it big over on Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Here's what the rest of the gang are up to:
1. Lauren Conrad, 27 - aka L.C, she now shares her tips on decor, beauty, fashion and food on her website laurenconrad.com. She's penned six novels, has her own clothing and bedding lines and is currently dating William Tell, the guitarist from Something Corporate.
2. Kristin Cavallari, 26 - mother to son Camden and married to American football player Jay Cutler, Kristin has quit her acting career to concentrate on family life. Is often spotted leaving swanky LA restaurants with her Birkin bag.
3. Whitney Port, 28 - everyone's favourite Hills star (she was the one who took fashion "seriously" and landed her own spin-off show, The City in New York), Whitney now has her own clothing line 'Whitney Eve'. Recently launched a new Magnum store in Australia. Has nearly 1 million twitter followers.
4. Audrina Patridge, 28 - star of straight-to-DVD movie, Into The Blue 2, Patridge is now known for modelling bikinis and appearing on Dancing With The Stars. Still lives in LA with her dog, Lady.
5. Heidi Montag, 26 - since marrying Spencer Pratt, losing all her friends and getting more plastic surgery than any other twenty-something in the world, ever, things have been a bit up and down for Heidi. After The Hills ended, the happy couple faced bankruptcy (appearances on the US version of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and the UK's Celebrity Big Brother soon followed). These days, Heidi updates her twitter feed to remind us all how amazing her husband is. Urgh.
Missing The Hills? Here's a montage...