Why You Know Her
Kristin Cavallari is best-known for her appearances in the MTV semi-reality shows, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off, The Hills. Kristin was a junior and kind of involved with Lauren Conrad's love interest when Laguna Beach debuted, making her a very central figure in the show's drama. Although not a cast member when The Hills debuted, she was a regular in seasons 5 through 7 of the show.

When not being a reality star, Kristin Cavallari has also tried her hand at acting. She appeared on TV series like Veronica Mars, CSI: New York and Cane, as well as in films (including Fingerprints, Spring Breakdown, Wild Cherry, National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Freshman Year and Wristcutters: A Love Story).

Why She's on Dancing with the Stars
Since the end of The Hills, none of Kristin's work has been terribly high-profile. If she wants any sort of continuation to her acting or even reality career, a DWTS-style boost might be necessary.

Dancing/Performance Experience
While Kristin's dancing experience is negligible, she made her name in reality TV and can therefore likely pull off the charisma needed for Dancing with the Stars. Plus, she's young and apparently reasonably agile.

DWTS Potential
It's hard to say how much of the audience will care at all about Kristin, but she does have a few things in her favor. Having Mark Ballas as a partner is especially helpful, considering the pro's track-record in getting otherwise-blah contestants through many, many weeks of competition.

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Want to know about the other Dancing with the Stars contestants? Click on any of the names below!

Carson Kressley
Chaz Bono
Chynna Phillips
David Arquette
Elisabetta Canalis
Hope Solo
J.R. Martinez
Nancy Grace
Ricki Lake
Rob Kardashian
Ron Artest

(Image courtesy of ABC)