Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag's redemption arc: from reality TV villains to a number one song

Spencer Pratt was 1 of the archetypal world TV villains, but present he’s stolen the internet’s hearts.

Pratt made his sanction connected MTV amusement The Hills. And aft years retired of the spotlight (bar reprising his relation successful a The Hills reboot successful 2019), helium has made an improbable comeback. It started erstwhile the location helium shares with woman Heidi Montag burned down successful the Pacific Palisades fire, which ripped done Los Angeles earlier this month.

Pratt’s unfiltered TikToks documenting his beingness successful the aftermath of the occurrence person earned him legions of caller fans, who person fixed hundreds of thousands of dollars successful donations and adjacent sent Heidi’s 2010 medium to fig 1 successful the US charts. Their instrumentality to the limelight is 1 of the large world TV redemption arcs pursuing a decennary of comparative obscurity.

The Hills ran from 2006 to 2011 and followed the lives of 4 women successful their twenties portion they were surviving successful 1 of Los Angeles’ astir affluent neighbourhoods. Pratt entered the amusement arsenic the fellow of Heidi Montag, and the brace rapidly became a troublemaking duo. They fell retired with their castmates for spreading salacious rumours and were accused of leaking mendacious stories to the press. The mates were consenting to spell the other mile to marque bully TV, with Montag famously getting 10 integrative country procedures successful a time successful 1 episode.

Pratt had choler absorption issues and was yet kicked disconnected the amusement for threatening to termination a producer.

The Hills was cancelled aft six seasons, and “Speidi”, arsenic they became known, rapidly frittered distant the millions they had earned. "Every clip we'd spell retired to eat, we'd bid $4,000 bottles of wine," Pratt said successful a mag interview.

"Heidi was going to the promenade and dropping $20,000 to $30,000 a day. We thought we were Jay Z and Beyoncé," helium added. Pratt besides dropped a chill cardinal dollars connected a crystal collection.

Throughout the 2010s the brace took portion successful a fig of different world shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Big Brother and Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. For the past respective years they person pivoted to societal media, with Pratt gathering up an improbable pursuing done posting videos of himself feeding nectar to hummingbirds astir his home. He besides sells crystals online and shares regular videos of his beingness connected Snapchat.

When the couple’s $2.5 cardinal location was destroyed successful Palisades wildfires earlier this month, Spencer took to TikTok. In 1 video helium holds up a large insubstantial container and says: “When your location burns down and you person nothing… There’s lone 1 happening that tin possibly marque you consciousness better: a container of bagels.”

Pratt’s videos are afloat of gallows humour and self-deprecation. His follower number rapidly burgeoned, and erstwhile helium deed a cardinal followers helium joked: “Who would person thought each I needed was for our location to pain down to yet deed a million. Can’t judge I didn’t deliberation of that sooner.” His follower number has since doubled to 2 million.

When immoderate TikTok users suggested helium was affluent capable to spend losing his house, Pratt deed back: “Ever since The Hills was cancelled, everything connected societal media and Google I’ve ever work astir myself was that I’m a broke nobody. But past it takes each of our possessions and our location burning down, and present successful each my comments conception everyone’s like, ‘What are you crying about? You’re a affluent celebrity.’ My gosh. What a rebrand! delight everyone update my Google alerts, and that personage nett worthy happening that said I’ve been worthy a 1000 dollars for the past 15 years. I’m enjoying being called a affluent celebrity.”

Other fans person been much sympathetic. When they asked what they could bash to help, Pratt asked them to watercourse Heidi’s album, Superficial, which she made successful 2010. “Heidi and I had wealth successful 2009, and we utilized it to bargain the Superficial medium and ain each the masters and enactment each our wealth into it, hoping astatine the clip Heidi would beryllium a planetary popular superstar,” Pratt said. The medium was a flop astatine the time, but Heidi’s azygous Superficial has soared to fig 1 connected the iTunes charts, beating Bad Bunny.

A GoFundMe leafage for Spencer and Heidi has received implicit 4,000 donations and raised $140,000 astatine clip of writing. Meanwhile, Pratt says helium is present making astir $4,000 a week from his TikTok videos and has received further donations done TikTok live.

While spirits look to beryllium precocious successful his TikToks, Pratt admits that things person been hard. “I’m inactive like, trying not to outcry each 10 minutes,” helium told the DeuxMoi podcast this week, earlier saying helium has large dreams for the future. “I volition go an A-list, affluent personage and I won’t halt until Heidi’s a Grammy winner”.

The brace are among 20 homeowners suing the metropolis of Los Angeles implicit its absorption of section h2o supply, claiming that it made the occurrence “inescapable and unavoidable”.