After Lauren Conrad’s announcement that she was leaving The Hills, the start of shooting for the new season sans Lauren, and the craziness that is Heidi and Spencer on Get Me Out of Here… I’m a Celebrity, comes the rumor that Lauren is engaged to her boyfriend of one year, Kyle Howard from My Boys. While she has kept relatively mum about their relationship, not even mentioning him on her show, she gushed about him in a recent issue of Cosmopolitan. She gave the typical “I feel sexiest with him when I’m in sweatpants and no makeup,” line, but interestingly the article also said that she is “in no hurry to tie the knot.”

The engagement occurred, according to Star, in Malibu late last month.

Saying bye-bye to The Hills after three years has brought big changes to Lauren Conrad’s life. At the top of the list: her beau, My Boys’ Kyle Howard, 31, is now ready to take their relationship to the next level. He proposed, and Lauren, 23, accepted! “Kyle’s always been wary of the cameras that constantly followed her around and never wanted to be on the show,” a source close to the pair tells Star. She’s finally free of all that – and Kyle couldn’t wait to pop the question.” He found the perfect moment on the beach in Malibu in late May. “He said that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her,” says the source. “Lauren barely let him get out the words out before she said yes!” Both Kyle and Laruen, who’ve been dating for about a year, wanted to keep their happy news quiet until the hoopla surrounding her exit from the show died down, adds the source. “She doesn’t want her wedding plans to be overshadowed by anything – especially residual drama with her Hills castmates!”

[from Star, print ed, June 22, 2009]

Of course, it’s Star, so there’s always the chance that this is completely made up, but the detail that the engagement occurred last month makes me think it might be legitimate. Lauren keeps saying how quiet and private she wants her life to be, so not announcing her engagement would be keeping true to that wish. One thing is definite, though. If they ever do make it down the aisle, there won’t be any TV special about it. In Cosmo, she was quoted that the only camera that will be at her wedding is her parents’ camcorder.

Update Hollyscoop reports that it’s not true that Conrad is engaged and that her rep has denied this story.

Here are Lauren and Kyle at the first game of the NBA National Championship Tournament between the L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic in Los Angeles on June 6th. Images thanks to WENN.com .