Entertainment
10 Secrets About Spencer And Heidi’s Marriage
When The Hills was on the air, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt were household names. The duo had created TV-villain personalities that gripped their audience and helped define The Hills as a series. When the show ended, Spencer and Heidi thought that they were famous enough to warrant their own show, but were sorely mistaken. Their debaucherous antics weren’t enough to keep the viewers interested as the world moved on to Jersey Shore and other, crazier reality shows.
The couple tried to keep up the level of fame they had on The Hills but struggled to do so. They appeared in a number of other reality shows for short stints, including Celebrity Wife Swap and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! They no longer command the level of fame and interest that they used to, but they’re still trying. After three weddings, and three wedding specials – not including a fourth behind the scenes special – Heidi and Spencer recently welcomed a son and made sure that they captured tabloid headlines with the birth. Beyond their non-stop search for fame – what else don’t we know about Speidi and where they are now? Here are 10 secrets about their marriage we didn’t know.
10. They Were Born Three Years Apart
Heidi Montag was born on September 15, 1986, and raised in Colorado by her parents Darlene and Bill. She moved to California to attend the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, but her stay there did not last long. While there, she met Lauren Conrad and they became best friends. Lauren was already in reality TV, as one of the main cast members of the reality show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. After one semester in San Francisco, both she and Conrad transferred to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Montag was soon featured in the reality show in the second season and finding school boring, she dropped out and went to work for an event planning company.
Spencer, the older of the two, was born on August 14, 1983, in Los Angeles. He has a younger sister, Stephanie, who was also a reality star, appearing on the show Made in Chelsea. Spencer started on television in 2005 when he was a member of the reality show Princes of Malibu and he served as manager/publicist/agent/stylist for the main character played by Brody Jenner. The show was short-lived. Although Spencer was initially denied a position as part of The Hills, he became a cast member in the second season after he and Montag moved in together. The relationship troubles between them and the other cast members became the focus of the program.
9. Their Relationship Started on The Hills
Initially, in 2006, Heidi Montag was the only half of this couple on The Hills. She and her friend and roommate Lauren Conrad were trying to make it big in Hollywood. The Hills was originally designed around Conrad, Montag and two other friends. Spencer and Heidi met at a club in California, and as the couple became more official, Spencer was finally included in the cast of The Hills. Lauren was upset that Heidi was spending all of her time with her new boyfriend and the duo had a falling out that ended in Heidi leaving their shared apartment. Lauren moved out and Pratt moved in and the reality series now had a new focus.
Lauren blamed Spencer for nasty rumors being spread around about her that had to do with a sex tape and a former boyfriend. And that’s when the era of Speidi infamy began. Rather than focusing on the trials and tribulations of four young women trying to make it in the world, it now became more confrontational and lived on the discourse between the various cast members. The couple remained a huge part of The Hills, and celebrated relationship milestones as part of the show, until the series ended and they looked for their next gig.
8. Eloped in 2008
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt first eloped and got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 2008 for a spread in US Weekly. While in Mexico, the couple had a ceremony officiated by a minister, and of course had plenty of photographers present, along with much of the cast and crew from The Hills. However, the ceremony was not followed up with a legal document and so was just an exchange of vows.
The couple could have had a legal wedding in Mexico had they followed the protocols and filled out the necessary paperwork at least two business days before the wedding. However, Spencer and Heidi arrived in Mexico barely a day before their elopement and said that they would deal with the legal side of their marriage when they returned to the United States. That did not happen until they had another, legally binding, wedding in 2009.
7. Officially Married in 2009
After their elopement in Mexico in 2008, The Hills couple redid their wedding and had a legally binding ceremony on April 25, 2009. The ceremony was held in Pasadena, California, and this time included their friends and family in celebrating their love. In a stunning contrast to their first ceremony, the second wedding was actually scripted by the producers of The Hills.
Their second wedding was so deeply intertwined with The Hills that there was a follow-up special for it. A “making-of” entitled The Hills Presents: Speidi’s Wedding Unveiled. Unfortunately, this second Hills ceremony did not seem to make everyone in the church, or the cast, completely happy. According to reports, Lauren Conrad was too upset and had to leave the ceremony and left through a side exit, which is why she does not appear in the final wedding scene.
6. Renewed Vows in 2010
Three weddings in three years might seem like overkill to many, but not to the fame-seeking couple of Heidi and Spencer. Their first two weddings were broadcast for The Hills and apparently were not enough for the couple. In November of 2010, Speidi reminded their fan base that they were truly in love by renewing their vows. They held a private beach ceremony in California that was donated to them by Entertainment Tonight, and filmed as a television special.
According to the couple, their elopement was a weekend of margaritas and crazy behavior. The second wedding was too fake, and this third wedding would be just about the two of them and their love. This was their chance to “restart” their marriage and just focus on their love for each other.
5. They Have One Child
Heidi and Spencer Pratt have one child together – Gunner Pratt, who was born on October 1, 2017. They are completely in love with their child and released a huge photo shoot with the US just two weeks after his birth. The new family looks blissful and the reality TV stars are making the huge adjustment to being parents of a newborn child. Specifically, Heidi is making the adjustment – according to the article in the US, Spencer would not change Gunners diapers and left that job entirely to his wife.
Spencer is making an effort to connect with his child, regardless of his stance on diaper changing. He cannot wait to play father-son sports with Gunner as he grows older, but for now, he is happy to watch his son dance to music while sitting on Spencer’s chest. Heidi is busy taking care of their child and is in love with being a mother. She says she appreciates all the little moments the most.
4. Spencer Left the Delivery Room
Spencer reportedly had to leave the delivery room for part of Gunner’s birth. He admitted to Daily Mail that as soon as Heidi started contractions, he realized childbirth was “way gnarlier than anything I am mentally prepared for.” He filmed part of the labor and can be heard supporting his wife – who forwent an epidural – and can be seen holding her hand. Considering that Spencer cannot stomach changing his child’s diaper, it is no surprise that he could not stay for the full birth.
Spender did, however, cover the entire delivery room in crystals for his wife Heidi. According to MTV, he had close to $30,000 of crystals delivered from Denver. The couple are passionate about crystals, so the delivery from Denver was important because these crystals had nobody’s energy on them already. They are so passionate about crystals that their second name choice for their son Gunner was Stone.
3. Heidi is Done with Plastic Surgery
Heidi Montag is famous for her bouts of plastic surgery. In 2010 the reality star had ten plastic surgery procedures in one day. She reversed some of the changes, namely her breast implants, but she says that motherhood has completely changed her opinion of her body. Motherhood and pregnancy seem to have given the star a new appreciation for her body – she even said she enjoys showing off her stretch marks.
The star gained over 45 pounds during her pregnancy, which was almost twice as much as she expected to gain. She was surprised but has shed most of the weight and was wearing her normal jeans a few months after she gave birth. The secret seems to be her healthy diet and the fact that Spencer has been cooking healthy meals for the family. According to Heidi, Spencer has been incredibly supportive – grilling up proteins and vegetables.
2. Staged a Divorce for Publicity
In 2010, after two weddings, it would have seemed that Spencer and Heidi were a solid couple. However, after they learned that The Hills would not be renewed for a new season, Heidi filed for divorce from her husband, citing irreconcilable differences. Heidi’s attorney said that the couple wanted a quick divorce, out of court and without spousal support – but not without publicity.
However, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, the divorce was an attempt to help Heidi’s career after The Hills because Spencer had become such a hated character. However, the couple went to Costa Rica together in August and Spencer publicly apologized to his wife. They reconciled and decided to work their marriage out. After the divorce was called off, Spencer said that the divorce and image-makeover for his wife were supposed to help her land a new television role that ultimately fell through.
1. Faced Bankruptcy
Spencer and Heidi were huge reality TV stars on The Hills and in the years following. They have starred on a number of different reality series, taking home huge paychecks and amassing what should have been a huge fortune. Unfortunately, the couple live like rock stars and were two of the most hated people on TV by the time The Hills reached its final episode. They had already staged their divorce for a failed attempt at a new TV show but didn’t slow down their lifestyle.
Spencer and Heidi were facing bankruptcy at the end of The Hills. They had spent their entire $10 million fortune and did not have substantial savings to live on. Spencer’s parents were buying food for them weekly and the couple was considering filing for unemployment. The couple thought they had years left in their series, and have admitted how foolish they were.