Spencer Pratt is pulling back the curtain on how he embraced his role as one of reality TV‘s most notorious villains.
The 42-year-old became a household name when he starred in the hit reality series “The Hills” from 2006 to 2010. In his new memoir, “The Guy You Loved To Hate: Confessions From A Reality TV Villain,” Pratt detailed how he carefully cultivated his troublemaker persona in pursuit of fame and fortune and revealed that he developed his scheming skills from a young age.
Early in the book, Pratt drew comparisons between himself and his father, William “Skip” Pratt, who aspired to become a professional baseball player but shifted his career goals to dentistry after admitting he lacked the top-level talent to make it to the major leagues.
SPENCER PRATT AND HEIDI MONTAG SUE THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, LADWP AFTER PALISADES FIRE
“I inherited that adaptability from him — the ability to pivot, to reinvent, to find new angles when the first plan doesn’t work. When one door closes, we just find another one to kick open,” Pratt wrote. “The difference is people light up when they see my father coming.
“They trust him with their mouths, their kids’ cavities, their family dental emergencies,” he continued. “He’s the guy everyone wants at their dinner party.
“Me? Well, I’m guessing you’ve read the title of this book. ‘The Guy You Loved to Hate.’ Yeah. Different skill sets.”
Pratt later recalled that he was 12 years old when he seized an opportunity to blackmail his father for years. The TV personality wrote that, as a child, he became a huge fan of the James Bond movies but found he identified more with the movie villains than 007 himself.
“Sometimes, it seemed like being the bad guy might be even more interesting than being the hero himself,” Pratt noted.
Pratt remembered that the opportunity presented itself after an incident involving his half-sister Kristin from his mother Janet Pratt’s first marriage. In addition to Pratt, Skip and Janet are parents to daughter Stephanie, who also starred on “The Hills.”
“I was twelve when I first put my 007 training into practice,” Pratt wrote. “It was a summer afternoon, and I was kicking a soccer ball around the living room. Kristin strolled in just as I unleashed this rocket, and bam, the ball smashed into her face.
“She immediately called our parents, who were out at the Jonathan Beach Club,” he continued. “‘Spencer broke my nose!’ she wailed. (Her nose was, in fact, fine.) She hung up. A few minutes later, the phone rang. No one answered it.
“The machine clicked on — one of those old-school boxes that announced your family drama at full volume to everyone in a three-room radius,” Pratt wrote. “It was Dad, and he wasn’t just pissed. He was DEFCON 1. ‘SPENCER PRATT! WHAT IN GOD’S NAME HAVE YOU DONE?! YOUR SISTER’S NOSE IS BROKEN, YOU LITTLE S—! WHEN I GET HOME, YOU’RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!’
“He said other things that would definitely violate his Hippocratic oath. My chill surfer-dentist dad had transformed into Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining,’ and it was all on tape. That’s when my twelve-year-old brain experienced its first devious epiphany.”
Pratt noted he took action after realizing that the voicemail could prove damaging to his father’s reputation.
“On my Home Alone 2 Talkboy cassette tape recorder, I made twelve copies of Dad’s meltdown,” he recalled. “Then I waited until the time was right. For when I really needed them.
“Weeks later, I deployed,” he continued. “Standing in front of my parents like a tiny mob boss, I cleared my throat, showing them just one copy of the tape. I popped it in my Talkboy, hit play, and smiled.”
“What if Grandpa Bill heard this? What if your patients heard this? The dental board? What if I accidentally left this at school?”
“‘Give me that, Spencer,’ my dad said, furious.
“‘Sure, but there’s more where this one came from.’
“His anger soon gave way to amusement as he realized his preteen son had unlocked his first hustle.”
“I milked that tape like a dairy farm,” Pratt recalled.
“New bike? ‘Remember the recording.’”
“Movie tickets? ‘About that tape … ’”
Earlier in the memoir, Pratt had recounted how Skip grew up in Inglewood, California, and was raised by a father who was “notoriously frugal.”
“My father was built different, though,” Pratt wrote. “Where Grandpa Bill saw limits, Skip saw opportunities. He wasn’t just buying into the American dream — he was convinced it was written for him.”
Pratt noted that Skip was determined to build wealth and embarked on a lucrative side gig when he began selling dental gold after learning that it was undervalued by 30%.
“Within a month, Dad had unlocked a whole new revenue stream,” Pratt recalled. “He’d be up at 5 a.m. driving downtown, pulling up behind Mahmoud’s Gold Exchange on Hill Street with a briefcase full of dental gold, then walking out with straight cash.
“This wasn’t just entrepreneurial hustle; Skip was building something larger than a dental practice. Constructing a life that would prove his father’s scarcity mindset wrong. Stacking money for a beach house dream and family gold.”
The “Celebrity Big Brother” alum explained that rather than disapproving of Pratt’s blackmailing scheme, he recognized that he and his son shared the same entrepreneurial spirit. Pratt noted that every time he used the tape against Skip, he would see “a glint of pride in my dad’s eyes.”
“Game recognizes game,” he wrote. “Chip off the old block.
“His approval wasn’t for my being good or well-behaved; it was for my being clever, strategic, effective.
“That tape became my first master class in power — not the kind you’re born with, but the kind you create.
“Or, as Dr. No once said, ‘World domination. Same old dream.’”
In “The Guy You Loved to Hate,” Pratt provided an unvarnished look at the highs and lows of his life. Pratt detailed how he was able to transform himself from an ambitious outsider to one of reality’s most infamous figures by “infiltrating” “The Hills” and deliberately stirring up controversy on the show.
He recounted how he and his wife and “The Hills” co-star Heidi Montag worked together to create the tabloid phenomenon known as “Speidi,” dominating headlines and earning them millions.
However, Pratt also revealed maintaining his antagonist persona took a personal toll, leading to mental health struggles, financial ruin and ostracization from Hollywood. The father of two chronicled how he and Montag were able to rebuild their lives by focusing on family and leveraging social media to generate income.
Pratt’s book culminated with the loss of their Pacific Palisades home in the devastating California fires in January 2025. Days after the fire, Pratt asked fans of him and Montag for their help.
In an effort to support the couple, fans catapulted Montag’s debut album “Superficial,” released in 2010, to the top of the iTunes charts, where it secured the No. 1 spot for both song and album.
Pratt explained that he had hoped that the duo would be able to buy a new house due to the album’s newfound success but shared that they only walked away with $150,000. However, he noted that he learned a valuable lesson from the experience.
“What it bought us wasn’t a house — it was proof,” Pratt wrote. “Proof that even when everything else turns to ash, at least some things can still survive. Dreams, music, the truth. Those things are fireproof, at least.”
Since the fires, Pratt, whose parents also lost their home, has led a social media crusade against California leadership he has accused of mismanagement, corruption and “criminal negligence” in their response to the disaster.
In August, Pratt traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.
During his trip, Pratt advocated for a federal investigation into California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s actions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Near the conclusion of “The Guy You Loved to Hate,” Pratt marveled over his new role as an activist and advocate for his fellow fire victims.
“So here I am,” he wrote. “Fire victim with an iPhone. Not glamorous, not lucrative, still ongoing. Who knows how many seasons it’ll last before everyone’s ready to move on to the next thing, a fresh character, a new narrative. But honestly? It’s probably the only role I’ve ever played that’s actually worth a damn.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
“The one I’ll keep playing until I get as many people as possible the justice they deserve,” he added. “You don’t even want to know the tricks I still have up my sleeve to make that happen.”
Prior to the publication of his book, Pratt announced he was running for mayor of Los Angeles. He made the announcement at a “They Let Us Burn!” protest in the Pacific Palisades near the remains of his home Jan. 7, the one-year anniversary of the LA fires.
“Let me be clear, this just isn’t a campaign,” he told the crowd. “This is a mission.”
“The Guy You Loved To Hate: Confessions From A Reality TV Villain” was released Jan. 27.
