Jason Wahler is ready to remeet the entire world. In fact, he pretty much had to reintroduce himself to the cast when he joined The Hills: New Beginnings. While he was a part the original 2006 series as Lauren Conrad’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, he was struggling with substance abuse at the time and really never got to know anyone.
“My perception was so skewed back in the day. I wasn’t in a place to really get to know anybody. I mean, I didn’t know myself, you know, so I was not in a position to be able to connect with anybody else,” Wahler, 32, revealed exclusively when he stopped by Us Weekly’s studio. “I honestly never really knew Spencer [Pratt]. I knew Heidi [Montag] pretty well for a while and I have always had my thoughts and opinions on her. I’ve always liked her. But with Spencer, I just never got to know him. We literally never met. We’d crossed paths or different things and actually talk. … He’s a good guy.”
Of course, fans of the original show can remember that he and Montag met during season 2 of Laguna Beach, when he was still in high school and Montag came back to Conrad’s hometown. They also spent time together before Pratt and Montag began dating. Additionally, Conrad and Montag’s friendship ended over a rumor that Pratt told everyone Wahler and Conrad had made a sex tape. While the two had been in the same scenes – as shown above, Pratt and Wahler were never formally introduced.
Part of the reason he wanted to do the series was to show the world “what sobriety looks like,” Wahler, who has been in an out of rehab multiple times for alcohol addiction, told Us. “I want to show recovery looks like. There’s just so much stigma associated with that in our world today and in our culture.”
The Hills: New Beginnings premieres on MTV Monday, June 24, at 10 p.m. ET.
