Spencer Pratt joining The Hills was no coincidence.
Pratt details his entire TV journey in his upcoming book, The Guy You Loved to Hate, out January 27, beginning with the short-lived Princes of Malibu, a show he sold to Fox starring his best friend Brody Jenner. When Princes didn’t last after Jenner’s mom, Linda Thompson, and her then-husband, David Foster, called it quits just as the show was premiering, Pratt set his sights on The Hills.
Keep reading for a full excerpt from The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions From a Reality TV Villain:
One day, I came home to the Palisades and found my mom and her best friend, Lucy, glued to the TV, completely mesmerized.
“What are we watching?” I asked.
“Just this cute MTV show with these adorable girls,” Lucy said, eyes never leaving the
screen.
The show was called The Hills.
The star was Lauren Conrad — LC from Laguna Beach, the reality show that proved Orange County high schoolers were richer, tanner, and far more dramatic than the rest of civilization. Now Lauren had her own spin-off, moving up the coast to Hollywood to chase her fashion journalism dreams with her bubbly best friend, Heidi, in tow. Blond hair, perfect smile, energy that reached through the screen and grabbed you.
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“That blond one’s absolutely precious,” Lucy said from the couch.
“You should marry her, Spencer.”
Those. Were. Her. Exact. Words.
“Heidi’s your type,” my mom agreed, studying the screen like she was reading tea leaves. “She’s got that sparkle.”
“Y’all are insane,” I said, posting up to watch and do some market research. Reality TV was my job now, so I needed to stay informed. First impression? The Hills was aggressively boring. Like watching paint dry, except the paint was really pretty and had perfect lighting.
Lauren Conrad. Eye rolls. Fashion internship. Ambien in human form. SKIP.
Heidi Montag. Party girl. Firecracker waiting to go off. Doesn’t. Audrina Patridge. Staring off into space receiving transmissions from another planet.
Whitney Port. Human beige sweater. (I actually knew her from Crossroads. She was dating Dave Chernin and desperately trying to get him cast on the show, apparently, but he wanted zero to do with it. Understandably.)
Plotlines were also giving me nothing:
• Heidi ditches class to play computer solitaire.
• Lauren does fake gossip sessions with Whitney at Teen Vogue, where they’re
both pretending to intern.
• Audrina just . . . exists near a pool. She’s got this rock musician boyfriend called
Justin Bobby who wears beanies. His actual name is Justin, but he wants everyone to call him Bobby for literally no reason so . . . PLEASE MAKE THIS STOP.
Where’s the conflict? The stakes? Why was this even on TV? Because it looked pretty, I guess. The lighting was superb. (The cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, later shot Black Panther and became the first woman nominated for an Oscar in cinematography. Even then, you could tell she was slumming it, making these girls look like Renaissance paintings while they discussed which outfits to wear that night.)
When the credits rolled, I saw it: Executive Producer: Sean Travis. MY showrunner. The guy we’d brought in for Princes. That guy had never said a word about landing an MTV deal.
I called him immediately.
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“Sean, what’s good? I’m watching The Hills right now.”
“Spencer! Hey!”
“So let me get this straight—we hook you up with that Fox gig, you use that to secure this MTV show, and you don’t even think to put me and Brody on it? Where’s the loyalty, bro?”
“Listen, it’s not that kind of narrative, it’s all girls—”
“Even better! You’ve got four girls and zero interesting dudes. Brody and I would kill on this show.”
Sean let out this sigh. “Listen, the creator, Adam DiVello, doesn’t want—”
“I don’t care what this Adam DiVello wants. You owe us, Sean. You’re EP’ing a show about young people living it up in Hollywood. THAT’S US, dude. We ARE the Hollywood scene. If you won’t put us on . . . well, I guess we’ll just have to handle this ourselves.” And then, for maximum drama, I added:
“I’ll see you in the club.”
I hung up. Annoyed.
Then I hit up Brody. “We’re getting on that new MTV show. The Hills.”
“Huh? We have our own show, brother.”
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“Yeah, but I’m not letting Sean Travis use the connections we gave him while we’re just
sitting here watching him cash checks.”
“Uh, okay, Spencer. Sure!”
Sure was right. Once I see an opportunity, I’m like a shark in the water, a dog with a bone. I see what I want. I take it.
Excerpted from THE GUY YOU LOVED TO HATE: CONFESSIONS FROM A REALITY TV VILLAIN by Spencer Pratt. Copyright © 2026 Reprinted by permission of Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LCC.
