The Hills: New Beginnings Starts On Thursday On MTV

Before reality TV was a scheduling staple, there was The Hills. A continuation of docu-soap Laguna Beach: The Real Orange Country, The Hills set the standard for reality TV programming long before Kim Kardashian and co were even heard of.

The series may have focused on Lauren Conrad and her dreams to become a fashion designer, but it was her housemate Heidi Montag, and her tumultuous relationship with divisive boyfriend Spencer Pratt that stole headlines.

While sceptics didn't think the pair's shotgun marriage in 2008 would ever stand the test of time, 'Speidi' are still as strong (and as headline grabbing) as ever more than 13 years on, back for the second series of The Hills spin-off, The Hills: New Beginnings.

The second series may welcome back former Hills staple Kristin Cavallari, but Spencer, 37, has made it clear there's no love lost amongst him, Heidi and the rest of his castmates. He's even ballsy enough to describe his co-stars this series as "whiny, fake nightmares".

Yikes.

MTV)

Talking to Tyla ahead of the new series, he explained: "What I keep hearing all the cast saying about themselves is that they were the most vulnerable ever, and this is the realest they've ever been, which I find entertaining because I felt like there was so much fakeness.

"So I hope it comes off as people pretending to be real that are really fake, if that makes sense. Yeah, cos I was like, when they're all talking about being so real, I was like 'you are the fakest person I've ever met in my life'.

"Yeah maybe that's what they meant they were real, they were really at that house, or they really ate that lunch.

"That was real, but I felt like people interacting with me personally was very fake throughout the year, which I will definitely be commenting on in my testimonials."

In fact, the series is set to be so explosive that Spencer doubts the cast will even "like" each other enough to film a third series.

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Heidi, however, is more shocked that despite so much having changed in the lives of her and her castmates, The Hills: New Beginnings still thrives off the same drama it did when they were in their early twenties.

"There are times where I'm like, 'are you still being that petty?'" she said. "You're being so dramatic and fake!

"Both me and Spencer like to be authentic. We appreciate that we're so similar. When you see a 35 year being so fake and whiny, I'm like, are you still in that point in your life?"

The pair do admit that filming this season was particularly difficult thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While The Hills often had lots of #dramz, Spencer acknowledges that there were real-life consequences on this season beyond falling out with their frenemies.

"We had a really successful crystal business, and it was making a lot of money," he says. "But then we had to shut everything down because of Covid-19. We had to reassess our spending.

"We had a financial advisor come and help us and one of our biggest expenditures was our wine budget - which grew expedientially during lockdown."

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"I'm not drinking as much as I used to as I'm trying to get pregnant," Heidi added. "But during the shows we have lots of mums nights out, having some adult time, drinking wine.

"We used to spend £500 a week on wine."

"You do see me struggling quite a lot this season," Spencer continued. "I'm used to The Hills being fun, and really low stakes. This time, it wasn't as much."

But despite the obvious ups and downs broadcasting the entirety of your lives on MTV has brought them, the pair do admit that they are partly responsible for the overall success of the reality TV format.

Yep, there wouldn't be a Kim K (or a Kylie J), or a Selling Sunsets without these icons.

Khloe Kardashian/Instagram)

"I remember Kourtney Kardashian speaking to my sister," Heidi remembers. "She wanted her and Scott to do things with the paps like how me and Spencer did.

"We'd work with photographers to get bikini shots and beach shots. That was very smart of us and that was a standard that we set for the industry."

"They definitely copied us on that!" Spencer said. "But Kris Jenner was always going to be that driving force behind making that family famous.

"It's actually so hard to be famous. I've learned that over 15 years of trying to cling on to 15 minutes of fame."

The Hills: New Beginnings returns on Thursday at 8pm on MTV.

Topics: Celebrity News, TV News, TV & Film

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley