Kristen Cavallari and Stephen Colletti Made Just $2,000 for Laguna Beach Season 1

Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Colletti are going back to the beginning in their new Laguna Beach rewatch podcast, "Back to the Beach," which launched on Tuesday. In the debut episode, Cavallari and Colletti revealed their salaries for the first season of the MTV reality show — an amount that barely covers a flight to Cabo.

"I think $2,500," said Cavallari.

"I don't even think it was that much," replied Colletti. "I think it was $2,000. Lauren [Conrad] and I renegotiated for Season 2. It was going to be our last season! We were like, 'We're out of here!'"

Still, Cavallari said she "honestly would have done it for free." She continued, "At that point, in high school, to me, it was more of a competition. Everybody wanted it and I was like, 'I'm gonna get this show!' I'm super competitive, that has not changed. So, when they told us they were gonna pay us, I was like, 'Oh, my God, great!'"

Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County aired for three seasons on MTV, from 2004 through 2006. The series followed the lives of a group of high school students growing up in Laguna Beach, California.

On the podcast, Cavallari opened up about living her life on camera and revealed it wasn't always easy for her, given that the show didn't portray her in the "best light." 

Much of Laguna Beach's first two seasons focused on the love triangle between Cavallari, Colletti, and Lauren Conrad, who landed her own spinoff show on MTV, The Hills.

"I think it's going to be fun to go back and relive it, although, I'm not going to lie, I have a little bit of anxiety thinking about sitting down and watching those years," Cavallari said. "It wasn't always the easiest for me. I don't feel like I was portrayed in the best light or accurately"

"There were only a couple of times where I feel like they really showcased our relationship," she continued. "Those moments, I was like, 'Thank you! That was us. It's sweet, and it was fun.' But they were so far and few between that a majority of the time, I walked away from it going, 'Well that's bullshit. That's not me. That's not what happened.'"

Laguna Beach is available to stream on Paramount+.

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.