HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — After living her life out on camera for the past five years, Lauren Conrad says enough was enough. Hence her decision to leave MTV's "The Hills" and move on with her life.
"I've spent the last five years making every decision be about the show," the 23-year-old Conrad reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly. "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 loved doing it and had so much fun, but it came to a point where I had done it long enough," she adds.
MTV's cameras first started rolling on Conrad in 2004 when she was a high school student on "Laguna Beach." The show's success led to the "Hills" spinoff, which debuted two years later.
On Thursday, "Hills" producer" Liz Gately confirmed to The Associated Press that Conrad would be leaving the hit reality show after its upcoming fifth season, which premieres on March 30. While Conrad says her departure is "bittersweet," she is looking forward to what lies ahead.
"You see us on the show and we appear to have seminormal lives, but if you watch any entertainment news show, half of the cast is being swarmed by paparazzi," the fashion designer tells the mag. "I'm excited to go back to having just one life, because there were times that I got them confused."
Chances are quitting the show won't exactly keep Conrad away from the paparazzi, particularly with her blossoming relationship with actor Kyle Howard. She tells Us that dating the "My Boys" star and keeping their romance off "The Hills" was "very difficult."
"When you're with someone, they become a very big part of your life," she says.
