Who Is Kristin Cavallari’s Dad? Meet Her Father and Learn Why She Cut Him Out of Her Life

When fans met Kristin Cavallari, she was living her best life with her high school friends while starring in Laguna Beach. The reality star’s family made cameos on the MTV show and viewers learned more about her roots in her E! series Very Cavallari. Kristin has been open about her relationship with her dad, Dennis Cavallari, and recently revealed she no longer has contact with him.

What Is Dennis Cavallari’s Job?

Dennis is successful in the real estate world and works as a developer for SteelWave. He also founded the Cavallari Group.

Is Dennis Cavallari Married?

Dennis and Kristin’s mother, Judith Eifrig, divorced when the TV personality was a young child. The “Let’s Be Honest” podcast host lived with her mother in Barrington, Illinois, until her junior year of high school when she moved to Laguna Beach with her dad and made her reality TV debut.

Dennis got ​remarried to Kristin’s step-mom, Nicole King, in 2003. The yoga instructor filed for divorce from Dennis 10 years later after she accused him of cheating with another woman.

Inside Kristin Cavallari’s Relationship With Her Dad

Kristin’s older late brother, Michael Cavallari, died in October 2015 due to hypothermia following a car crash. After his death, Kristin realized her brother had a better relationship with their dad than she did.

“'My dad and my brother were close, and, because of that, I think our relationship is very surface. It puts a little bit of a void between us,” she said during a 2020 episode of  Very Cavallari. “So, I am hoping that with this family tree and tracing the roots. I don't know, maybe it just gives us something to bond over and he'll open up a bit more.”

Three years later, amid the launch of her podcast, Kristin reflected on her bad girl image on Laguna Beach and admitted that she was hiding her sadness.

"What I had to do is cut my dad out of my life. That's been the most freeing thing I've ever done," the Uncommon James founder told Business Insider in September 2023. "I was so sad deep down. I was really longing for a connection with someone."

During a December 2023 episode of “Let’s Be Honest,” Kristin recalled the moment she ended all contact with her father, admitting it was “the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“I actually didn’t even realize my dad was a narcissist until I was an adult. All I knew growing up was that I didn’t want to be around him. He always made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. But then the flipside of that is sometimes he would put me on this pedestal and talk me up. Now, as an adult looking back, I’m like, ‘Oh, it was when it benefited you and made you look good,’” she explained to Dr. Sherrie Campbell. “How I got my dad out of my life was something happened with my kids, and it crossed the line and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m f--king done,’ and he blamed me for it, like threw everything back in my face. You know, it’s like I was always, like, I can’t take it, you know. I can’t take the abuse. I have my whole life. But it’s like when you start now, messing with my kids – I’m not doing it.”