“It's been a long time coming," Conrad told the Los Angeles Times in 2009 . "I went through many phases when I thought I was done, but I'm at this point where I'm really ready." She explained that she had pared down the amount of her life she was willing to show on screen, including guys she was dating, and started thinking about the show as just a way to get to do other things she wanted to do, like design clothes. Basically, she was over it. “They'd put us in situations we didn't want to be in,” she said of the show. “There were times I'd take my mike off and just stop."