Hilary Duff Has 'Come Clean': She Never Watched 'Laguna Beach', Even Though Her Song Is the Theme

"I missed a huge chunk of big things that people talk about," the How I Met Your Father star told Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen about her busy teen years as touring musician

hilary duff watch what happens live with andy cohen
Photo: Watch What Happens Live/Bravo

Hilary Duff's voice will be forever linked with Laguna Beach in viewers' minds, but the singer and actress has revealed she's never actually been one of those viewers.

The How I Met Your Father star, 35, told Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen on Thursday night that she simply never had time for appointment viewing when Laguna Beach was first on MTV airwaves.

"In a moment in time when you could not record TV shows, I was on tour," she explained. "So, I missed a huge chunk of big things that people talk about that I didn't get to experience. And then my song was the theme song, and I loved that because I lived at MTV for a while."

Starring Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Colletti during their days at Laguna Beach High School, the show was a game-changer during its run from 2004 to 2006, cementing its top three stars' lives in the public eye and launching the 2006–2010 spin-off The Hills.

Cast of Laguna Beach (l-r) Alex, Jason, Lauren, Stephen, Kristin, Talan, Jessica, Taylor. Credit: Courtesy MTV
MTV

When Cohen, 54, suggested Duff might have "gotten rich" off the use of her hit song by Laguna Beach, she was quick to shut that suggestion down.

"I definitely didn't get super rich by them using it as the theme, and I am not going to pretend to know what went on in the background for them to use it," she said. "But they used it."

Duff's time as a top pop artist came after she starred in her breakout role on Disney's Lizzie McGuire from 2001 to 2004.

During that time, she released her 2003 album Metamorphosis, which featured not only "Come Clean" but also another MTV favorite: My Super Sweet 16's bubblegum pop theme song "Sweet Sixteen," which kicked off episodes from 2005 to 2017.

"They love me over there," quipped Duff. "I don't know how much money I made from it. I don't think a lot. But maybe Disney [which owns Hollywood Records] did."

Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff. Dia Dipasupil/Getty

The actress also talked about 2004's A Cinderella Story, one of her other major projects from that era.

When a fan asked her if she would consider starring in a sequel alongside Jennifer Coolidge, Duff gushed about the beloved character actor (who recently became an Emmy and Golden Globe winner thanks to her work on HBO's The White Lotus).

Calling Coolidge a "lovely human being," Duff said, "I can't even begin to tell you how much I've just been obsessed with this past year for Jennifer Coolidge. It's been really cool to see. I'm really proud to see her moment, and it just reminds me that being in this industry, I feel so lucky that anything can happen at any stage."

Jennifer Coolidge, Hilary Duff
Jennifer Coolidge and Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story (2004). Moviestore/Shutterstock

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Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen airs Thursdays through Sundays on Bravo (check listings), and How I Met Your Father season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.

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