6 Lies “The Hills” Told Us About Interning

By Kelsey Mulvey

We really miss The Hills. As we followed the drama that brewed between Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, and, at times, Kristin Cavallari, we learned a lot about female friendships and relationships (ie: Don’t be the girl who says no to Paris).

Yet during those glorious four years the show aired on MTV, The Hills offered some unrealistic expectations about interning. The main characters interned everywhere from fashion PR agencies, to event planning firms, and even Teen Vogue, but their experiences were nothing like what most interns deal with.

Below, we’re debunking six myths The Hills gave us about interning.

1. No intern ever gets their own cover

During the show’s premiere, which debuted on May 31, 2006, we all watched Lauren haphazardly primp and prepare for her big interview with Teen Vogue editor Lisa Love. We felt her anxiety and were genuinely happy when she landed that coveted internship. The following year, Lauren actually graced the August Teen Vogue cover with co-intern Whitney Port. Don’t be fooled, Edsters: This never happens.

That said, we saw this coming from a mile away. Years after the show wrapped, various allegations spread about the show being scripted and that Lauren’s internship was pre-arranged.

2. You don’t travel as an intern

Between hopping on a red eye to New York just to deliver a gown to Lisa to jetting off to Paris for the Crillon Ball, Whitney and Lauren became some serious frequent flyers during their stint at Teen Vogue. But in reality? The farthest you’ll travel as an intern is to the corner Starbucks to pick up a coffee for your boss.

As for that dress Lauren delivered to Lisa: As an intern, you’re more likely to be responsible for arranging the WorldNet shipment.

3. It’s never okay to invite your friends to a work-sponsored party

Shortly after beginning their internship, Lauren and Whitney were asked to work a party celebrating Teen Vogue’s newly released Hollywood issue—and let’s just say things didn’t go according to plan. When Lauren’s then-bestie Heidi caught wind of the party, she and her squad not only crashed the event, but caused some major drama—right in front of Lauren’s boss.

Miraculously, Lauren didn’t get fired.

In the words of The Devil Wears Prada, “A million girls would kill for this job.” So if you used a work event as social hour, you’d likely get fired. At the very least, your boss would keep you on a tight leash.

4. You rarely rub shoulders with big-time designers

There are a lot of amazing perks to being a fashion intern: endless beauty supplies at the giveaway table or even attending press previews on behalf of your boss. The one thing we’re pretty sure you’ll never do though is befriend top-tier designers like Marc Jacobs.

During one of Lauren’s many trips to New York (see #2), she was granted access to the Marc Jacobs studio to help the designer with fittings for his upcoming show. We have a lot of problems with this one.

One thing The Hills producers failed to recognize is that design houses have their own troop of interns to do menial tasks. Plus, Lauren would have her hands full with her own tasks at Teen Vogue.

5. A fashion closet is never calm

Anyone who’s ever interned in the fashion department knows the closet isn’t a perfectly organized, serene space. At times, it feels like the trenches. Instead of picking up fine jewelry, returning samples, and packing trunks, the girls spent most of their time at Teen Vogue sifting through racks as if they were shopping and gossiping while casually steaming a dress.

Sure, the Los Angeles bureau is smaller than Teen Vogue‘s New York headquarters, but most fashion closets are filled with several interns — and nobody has a pretty little desk they can sit at all day.

6. There’s nothing wrong with being the superstar intern

One thing that bothered us for years was the tension between Lauren, Whitney, and New-York based intern Emily. Organized and ambitious, Emily intimidated the other two girls and was criticized on the show for being a “super-intern,” as if that’s a bad thing.

You should always want to stand out at your internship and have your supervisors see you as an efficient go-getter. Don’t ever think otherwise.

Where’s Emily now, you ask? Oh, just running beauty website Into the Gloss as well as skincare brand Glossier. Lauren and Whitney also have very impressive resumes to date, but it just goes you show you it’s never a bad thing to shine at your internship.

Kelsey Mulvey is a New York writer and commerce reporter at Business Insider. She has written for several publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, LuckyMag.com, Wallpaper.com. Check out more of her work at KelseyMulveyWrites.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter.