Jason Wahler Apologizes, Makes Amends With Lauren Conrad

No, this isn't an article from 2007 that we misfiled.

The Hills and Laguna Beach alum Jason Wahler, whose DUI arrests, fights and stints in rehab kept us busy for several years, says he's a changed man.

As such, "I wanted to make amends with Lauren [Conrad]," he tells People. "She was a big part of my life and there's stuff that I needed to address."

A photo from Jason's old daze.

Now 24 and sober for over a year, Wahler currently works in Costa Mesa, Calif., at National Therapeutic Services as a mentor and sober companion.

"It feels good to give back," says Wahler, who recently completed Celebrity Rehab, and contacted Lauren Conrad after feeling comfortable in recovery.

"She's an incredible person and so supportive of anything I do to stay clean," he says. "But the timing had to be right before I reached back out."

Conrad, who was "impressed" with Wahler's achievement in sobriety, was "more shocked at what I'm doing for work," says the former reality star.

"I needed to humble myself a lot," he says.

"A lot of those [Laguna] people knew me before all the bad stuff began, and thankfully I've been able to rekindle a lot of my old friendships."

So will Jason Wahler return to Hollywood now that he's sober? He says he'll never go back to the day-and-night party scene of Los Angeles.

However, he did celebrate his sobriety last week with a bash at 31 Ten Lounge in Santa Monica, with a number of his Rehab co-stars on hand.

Janice Dickinson, Jeremy London, Jason Davis and Leif Garrett attended the party, which was sponsored by Sober is Sexy and Body Armor.

His new girlfriend of a few weeks, Ashley Slack, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, was also there for support.

Says Wahler of his new, clean life, "I think being clean and having my boundaries and my limitations, I just have a much clearer head."