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I’m continuing down the path of reading books about “complicated people” (which often translates to “men who behave badly”), so reading Spencer Pratt’s memoir, “The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions From a Reality TV Villain,” is required reading.
Spencer Pratt is most known for his roles on MTV’s “The Hills” and “The Hills: New Beginnings.” Fans met Spencer on “The Hills” when he started dating its star, Heidi Montag. He was best friends with Brody Jenner, and it seems like there was a little bit of a push for Hills’ star Lauren Conrad to date Brody.
But, instead, Spencer put a wedge between Lauren and Heidi (friends and roommates at the time), and wow, fans really hated Spencer as a result. Granted, the things he did/the way he was edited made it easy to hate him (as his book title explains), but it made for reality TV gold.
Spencer and Heidi added conflict to the show, and also gave viewers plenty of family drama, a pregnancy scare, and crystals on crystals on crystals.
In the book, Spencer opens up about his family and his upbringing. The goal of being successful on reality TV stemmed from a desire to help his family and an understanding that there were people out there who made big bucks by being themselves (this was during the reign of Paris Hilton, and he was friends with Brody Jenner, a neighbor of the Kardashian dynasty).
Initially, Spencer had an idea to produce his own show, “Princes of Malibu,” which would feature Brody Jenner, his siblings, and their famous parents, actress Linda Thompson and composer David Foster (Brody’s step-father).
The show went into production, but the timing was off, as Linda caught David cheating during that time, and she wasn’t willing to put it all on TV. After Spencer met Heidi one night, he got his reality TV debut organically.
While “The Hills” was really successful, Spencer learned the hard way how it all works — the editing, the fame, and ultimately, the crash and burn. The book details how he navigates it all, uses some of it to his advantage, yet still winds up broke and blackballed by Hollywood.
Post-MTV, Spencer tried to earn money on other shows, including “Celebrity Big Brother” and “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!”
But what won audiences back was his social media presence, featuring his daily rituals of making espresso, feeding hummingbirds, and selling crystals. I also think the fact that he’s still married to Heidi and they have two children is proof that his role on TV was a mix of youth and character portrayal.
Regardless, I was honestly pleasantly surprised by this book. He really opens up a lot, and it provides an inside look at reality TV. As a shameless reality TV junkie, I loved this!
The book was written before Spencer announced his candidacy for Los Angeles Mayor (which stemmed from the loss of his family home in the Palesades fire), but there was a bit about the fire and how it affected his family.
If you loved “The Hills” or are a fan of reality TV, I highly recommend this book! I listened to the audio, read by the author, and thought it was great.
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