'I'm in control of my own narrative at this point, and it's the happiest I've ever been,' she tells ET.
Don't expect to see Lo Bosworth on any more reality TV series anytime soon.
In a new interview with ET, the founder and CEO of Love Wellness explains why she's moved past her days as a reality star on shows like Laguna Beach and The Hills.
"I was cast onto television when I was in high school. I believe it was our junior year, and we filmed that first season of Laguna when I was 17," Bosworth, 33, recalls to ET's Katie Krause. "When I went to school and the first episode premiered, I had to figure out pretty quickly how I felt about my new role within this public-facing universe. But once you open Pandora's box, you can't close it again. There's no going back. So from that point forward, it was me as a young person figuring out how to deal with what I was dealing with."
"It was challenging for me, certainly. I think other people really love the limelight and love to be on social media, love to put their lives out there," she continues. "For me, I'm a much more private person and I really love having a normal job and going to work every day."
Bosworth admits that attempting a "normal" life after doing reality TV has definitely been "a challenging journey."
"I think you have opportunities to continue to pursue a career in entertainment, if that suits you, or you can go back to a more private life, but have to deal with people knowing who you are," she explains. "For me, I wanted to prove myself and I wanted to prove that I'm a person that has more to offer than just drama on a television show. I'm smart, I have a perspective, I have a platform and I want to use it for positive change."
And while Bosworth thinks it was "interesting and fun" to see some of her former castmates reunite for The Hills: New Beginnings, she can't see herself joining them in the future.
"I'm not sure if I would ever participate in something like that again," she confesses. "I have really created my own path that I'm just so happy to be on and I think i'm getting close to succeeding in building the life I always dreamt of for myself."
"I live all the way across the country and I'm really focused on where I'm at in my life right now," she adds. "Frankly, I don't want paparazzi standing outside my building waiting for me. That's not a life I choose for myself. I'm in control of my own narrative at this point, and it's the happiest I've ever been."
These days, Bosworth has been keeping busy with her Love Wellness company, which provides clean, body positive personal care products for women. "I started the company back in 2016 because I personally was not well," she explains. "I was suffering from a bunch of vitamin deficiencies, and at that point in time, no one was really talking about it."
"It really was affecting my health top to bottom, inside and out," she adds. "If you imagine a cup with water and all of a sudden it starts to overflow with water, those were my symptoms. Depression, anxiety, all kinds of things."
Bosworth tells ET she is currently working from home in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic, and trying to stay positive every day as the state gradually reopens per government health and safety guidelines.
"Thankfully things have gotten a lot better here. I was walking around yesterday, with my mask on, of course, and it felt almost like a normal New York City day," she shares. "There were a lot of people out. There was great energy. It was 100 degrees, mind you, but this city feels like it has some of that energy back."
"I think we are on week 21 of working from home now and it's been a roller coaster," she adds. "I think that has been everybody's experience. You have good days, you have not-so-good days, and we're just working toward a common goal, right? Which is to heal the nation and get back to work."
Bosworth also recently spoke about her journey from reality TV to business during Create & Cultivate’s digital self-care and beauty summit, a conference she's been a fan of for years.
"It's always been a really great platform to connect with entrepreneurs, founders, but also the audience," she says, of why she wanted to get involved. "The people that are interested in Create & Cultivate come there for a reason, to educate themselves on different topics. And I always get an education from other panels that I sit in on. So for me, it's just as much a learning and growing experience as it is for me to share my personal story."
"I have to give it to the moderators and to the women who organize at Create and Cultivate, they've done such a great job," she continues. "I have DM'd with so many women that I've been on panels with and we're creating our own relationships behind the scenes now. So, it's really cool."
As for her top tips to staying healthy -- mentally and physically -- amid the pandemic? Bosworth suggests exercising every day, drinking lots of water, eating clean, taking supplements and getting a full eight hours of sleep.
"I really have realized that lifestyle changes have overwhelmingly helped me get better," she says.
RELATED CONTENT:
