'The Hills': They Shoot, Lauren Conrad Scores

Keeping things private is tricky, given that the cast is hounded daily by L.A.'s paparazzi. ''Anywhere between 6 and 12 are out there [during filming],'' says DiVello. Adds Lauren, ''We'll be filming at a restaurant and it will be us at a table, three cameras, and then a row of photographers behind the cameras.'' Out of necessity, DiVello and his crew have formed a tentative We'll get our shots, then you'll get yours alliance with the paparazzi. ''We don't want to [shoot] in the back of a restaurant so people can't see us,'' says DiVello. ''You want them on the patios. The paparazzi really work with us. They stay behind the cameras.''

Still, the hovering shutterbugs are occasionally to blame for inciting rumors that the show is heavily manipulated. According to Lauren, many times the paps and their incessant flashbulbs will ruin establishing shots of the girls entering, say, a restaurant, so production will ask Lauren and her friends to do another take. Explains DiVello, ''If we lose something, or there's no audio and we need them to talk about something [again], we'll ask them to talk about it. Anyone that's making a reality television show that tells you they aren't doing [the same thing] is probably lying.'' Lauren says she understands why fans cry foul about scenes that reek of ''take 2'' awkwardness. ''I get that there are certain scenes where someone's like, 'Sooo, last night was weird....' And then there are people on the show who really don't help, because they are very fake. We know who we're talking about — like, you need to stop rehearsing your breakfast.'' Lauren won't name names, but we're guessing she's referring to series villains Heidi and Spencer. The duo did tell EW last year that they had faked arguments for the cameras, which DiVello admits he can't control. ''We work with what they're giving us,'' he says. ''I don't think any of these kids are making up stuff, but I don't know.'' (Heidi and Spencer declined to be interviewed for this story once they learned Lauren was on the cover.)

NEXT PAGE: ''Right now, I think this is the last season. I go through phases when I've been filming where I wake up in the middle of the night and I think I'm being filmed. That's when I have to take a vacation.''