Living under a rock? The Hills: New Beginnings star Brandon Thomas Lee is so new to the MTV franchise, that he is unaware of who former series star Lauren Conrad is.
In a new interview with Teen Vogue, Lee opened up about his newcomer status on the hit reality series. He shared how he never watched the original 2000s series, which premiered when he was 10. He, therefore, had no prior knowledge of the 33-year-old designer — who once interned at Teen Vogue — ever existing, despite that fact that she served as the original show’s lead from 2006 to 2009.
“Everyone mentions her name a lot, but I have no idea who that is,” Lee, 23, told Teen Vogue on Monday, July 8. “I have really no idea about any of the stuff from the original.”
In a first look at the new series, Lee’s costar Brody Jenner referred to him as “a really good friend of mine.” Jenner, in fact, was close friends with Conrad during her time on the series and the duo were even romantically linked. (During 2016’s The Hills: That was Then, This is Now special, the L.A. Candy author admitted the romantic pairing with Jenner was fake and that their connection “always just felt forced.”)
Lee, a model and actor, is the eldest son of rocker Tommy Lee and actress Pamela Anderson. During the MTV reboot’s premiere episode on June 24, viewers were given a glimpse into his current relationship with his parents. The Baywatch alum even made a small cameo.
Brandon has appeared in movies such as Netflix’s Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and BET’s hip hop anthology series Tales. However, he never anticipated a career for himself within the reality TV world.
“I don’t think the object has ever been to be a reality TV star, I think this is more of an opportunity for people to get to know me and my path and what I’ve been doing,” he noted to Teen Vogue. “I’m still acting, I’m still working in fashion, that’s my main focus. This is just following me around in my life and I feel like it just gives people the opportunity to get to know me because I’ve lived such a private life.”
Lee isn’t the only new face to appear on The Hills: New Beginnings. Series original Heidi Montag spoke exclusively with Us Weekly about how Mischa Barton’s casting, who was confirmed for the reboot series in October 2018, initially made her feel.
“I think it was a little frustrating for me at first, because, like, we’ve put our whole lives into this show before and after, so to have someone come in and, like, be so reserved was a little bit frustrating,” Montag, 32, told Us in June. “I don’t think it was intentional, I think that is, like, how she is, and she’s just a little more closed and needed a little more time to open [up].”
