It's not easy being the sidekick. They stand only halfway in the spotlight and are judged solely on their ability to direct attention onto the main event. Sidekicks aren't always considered people; they're just extensions of the stars themselves.

But Lo Bosworth doesn't mind. After several years as Lauren Conrad's sounding board on The Hills, the 22-year-old has realized that, for now, being the sidekick allows her certain perks that Conrad was forced to give up long ago.

"For the time being, I'm comfortable with my position on the show. I don't have to reveal that much about myself," Bosworth says during her promotional tour for Yaz birth control. "That's the privilege of being the friend: you don't have to let everyone know everything about you. I don't mind it."

But even with her privacy mostly intact, it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Bosworth. In the first few seasons of The Hills, she appeared only sporadically, popping up to offer dating advice to Conrad and to make delightfully bitchy (but true) quips about other people. But as her role on the MTV series grew, Bosworth's "tell it like it is" approach was increasingly interpreted as unnecessary cruelty, earning her the reputation of the Hills bitch – no easy feat, considering her competition.

Unsurprisingly, the petite blonde repeats the defense of hundreds of reality show personalities, claiming her Mean Girl rep is the fault of editing – and the rest is due to her unrelenting dedication to honesty.

"It is a reality show, but the thing is, I'm honest and I am who I am. On a TV show, especially a reality TV show, you can be whoever you want to be. You may not be that nice a person but you can play it like you're the nicest, sweetest girl ever. And I just don't buy into that," she says. "I feel like people I sometimes have issues with are just frustrated. Not everything is as it seems."

It's a bit of a redundant statement for a Hills cast member: the series has been called many things, but "realistic" has never been one of them. Despite the show's designation as a reality show, Internet gossip sites are filled with tales of numerous retakes of scenes, carefully set-up confrontations and the omission of important events that aren't deemed Hills-worthy.

Bosworth doesn't deny this. The audience is fully aware of what goes on behind the scenes, yet they keep watching. Viewers aren't being deceived, Bosworth suggests, but are willing to go along with it for the sake of entertainment.

"I think most people who love the show see it as a guilty pleasure and take it for what it is and don't expect anything else from it," she says. "People watch because everyone has fights with their friends, everyone gets in fights with their boyfriends. It's very relatable. It's glossy and it looks nice but, at the end of the day, it's about basic issues that everyone has while growing up."

She may not be as big of a tabloid target as Conrad or notorious Hills couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, but Bosworth has similarly been seduced by the allure of the entertainment industry. She has no desire to start her own fashion line or to embark upon an ill-advised "music" career, but she does has aspirations to become a television host, citing The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck as an influence.

"I almost feel like I'm the anti-Elisabeth Hasselbeck – because I'm not a Republican - but I feel like she's young and fun and she can admit when she's made a mistake. She is actually a role model for me because I feel like she has taken the same steps as me," Bosworth explains. "She started out on Survivor, then she moved over to a style show and look where she is today. And it's because she's outspoken; it's because she's honest. I feel like I try to take after people like that."

Bosworth frequently comes back to what she wants to do in the future, making it clear that while she's comfortable playing the sidekick right now, she has no intention of doing it forever. Currently, her role is a convenient one, but The Hills will eventually end, and when it does, Bosworth thinks people will finally see her as more than the bitchy best friend.

"In Hills world, yeah, I'm a sidekick, but I feel like when I meet people and do interviews, they realize that it's not about that," she says. "I think especially whenever the show comes to a close, I'm going to branch out in my own way."

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