“I’m sure a lot of people don’t take me seriously,” The Hills star, 22, tells the Wall Street Journal.

However, in a bid to been taken more seriously, Conrad ? with the help of her father ? has hired a team of Hollywood-industry advisers and signed several licensing and endorsement deals since shooting to fame in the hit MTV show.

But, because the cameras never follow her when she works on her collection, Lauren’s enterprises aren’t getting any free promotion on The Hills.

“I spend the most amount of time on the line, and it’s the thing that makes me the least amount of money,” Conrad explains.

Conrad is also quite clearly desperate to be in the spotlight.

The Journal reporter says Lauren chose to dine outside a restaurant because she’d be in better view of paparazzi

“During a recent breakfast interview at an outdoor caf? in Los Angeles, Ms. Conrad said she suspected a photographer was taking pictures of her from across the street,” writes Katherine Rosman. “She declined to move to an inside table. Instead, she looked left and right before taking quick bites of her egg whites.

Meanwhile,?Conrad has accused Us Weekly of pulling together a number of interviews and placing her picture on the front cover with the headline, ‘Stabbed in the Back’ - referring to her friend and co-star Audrina Patridge. But Conrad is adamant she has not spoken to anyone at the publication.

And a friends tells New York gossip column Page Six Conrad was not happy with the article because she is friends with people at the magazine: “She’s very good friends with these people. She goes out to dinner with them, and so does Audrina. So Lauren definitely wasn’t happy when she saw this cover.”

However, Lauren later issued a statement, stating, “It was never my intention to criticize Us Weekly as I have a great relationship with them.”

Source: showbizspy.com & hiphop-elements.com

Lauren tries to uphold her friendship to Audrina, but is it already too late? Meanwhile Spencer tries to win Heidi back and risks her career to do so.

SEASON FINALE!!!