Spencer Pratt Reveals Which Co-Star Pushed Him to Become a Reality TV Villain
He was told to channel Simon Cowell on 'The Princes of Malibu' and later 'The Hills.' The post Spencer Pratt Reveals Which Co-Star Pushed Him to Become a Reality TV Villain appeared first on SiriusXM.
On a new episode of Radio Andy’s “The Julia Cunningham Show,” special guest Spencer Pratt revealed that he never planned to be on-camera for “The Princes of Malibu,” the reality series he co-created in 2005 that followed his friends, Brandon and Brody Jenner, their mom, Linda Thompson, and her husband, record producer David Foster.
Spencer explained that when he originally sold the series, he shot and edited everything before a big production company took over and changed his role.
“If I could go back in time, I would’ve known what was happening to me. I was getting hijacked,” Spencer explained. “I had my own walkie-talkie, it said Executive Producer Spencer. And they’re like, ‘Spencer, get in a just kind of stir up, like, get Dave…’ and I’m like, ‘No, no, I’ve got a walkie-talkie. I stand over there.'”
He likened the on-set experience to “The Matrix,” saying, “I didn’t realize I was taking the pill, and then once I was in, then I was too late, and then it’s just like, now we’re drinking at Nobu. I didn’t think about it. And that moment did change my life forever because nobody ever took me seriously again.”
As he became a regular on the short-lived series, it was David who inspired him to take the villain route, which he continued into “The Hills” (2007).
“David Foster, once I was kind of in it, he was like, ‘You need to be the Simon Cowell of reality TV,'” Spencer said. “And I didn’t even watch ‘American Idol.’ I didn’t even know who Simon Cowell was. I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ … He’s like, ‘Be the bad guy. Be the villain.'”
At that time, though, Spencer said he didn’t realize the world would judge his on-screen persona so harshly.
“What [David] didn’t explain to me, though, why Simon Cowell was able to get away with what he did, is [that] it was grounded in, ‘I’m trying to tell you you’re not talented because it’s just the truth’ … The problem with me just being blunt and doing whatever producers wanted and making the game is [that] the audience doesn’t see any — there’s no, ‘He’s just telling it how it is.’ It was just like, ‘Oh, he’s a monster.’ So that’s what I didn’t see, looking back … They took it very serious,” Spencer said.
- Related: Brody Jenner Reveals How Spencer Pratt Secretly Produced ‘The Hills,’ Made Himself the Villain
Earlier this year on “The Julia Cunningham Show,” Spencer’s friend and co-star Brody Jenner explained how early on Spencer knew he wanted to be a villain character on “The Hills.”
“His vision, I think, was part of the reason why that show did so well, because there was so much drama that was created, and he was such a good producer,” Brody said.
“The Julia Cunningham Show” is a live, one-hour pop culture and entertainment show airing weekdays at 3pm ET/12pm PT from the SiriusXM LA Studios. Stream previous episodes anytime on the SiriusXM app. Spencer Pratt’s full interview airs tomorrow, April 29, at 3pm ET.
The post Spencer Pratt Reveals Which Co-Star Pushed Him to Become a Reality TV Villain appeared first on SiriusXM.
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