Spencer Pratt On Life As Reality TV’s First Villain “I Planned To Be A Player, Not A Husband”

33:29They just were like, this is our thing and we're going to run it all the way until they make the new deal with Hulu. so in my ego i thought oh we're still at two million you know but i didn't get mtv's not in that business model or viacom once it gets too expensive margins let's put in the new the new fresh horse the cheaper racehorse and get them out so if viacom had saw jersey shore and they're like okay we'll bring jersey shore but we're gonna get in the heidi and spencer business and we're going to give them a redemption arc. And maybe they tried and I sabotaged it because like in the book, the president of VH1, which was still real big at the time, reached out, wanted to like give Heidi and I our own show and I sabotaged that.

34:20Why? You're going to have to read the book. That's so good. It's so good. It's so good. So maybe that was that. So I can't say, because it was right after, boom, you know, and that could have been, you know, a few more seasons. Who knows? You know, so, or not. But I think, you know, the more I think about it, that was one of those, like, I had a couple of those moments in my life. Yeah. And then also, though, do you feel like you and Heidi and the Hills launched a whole realm of other reality? because you played a role in the Kardashians coming about. Well, I inspired them because they got to see, they literally come out to Princess of Malibu, see their stepbrother with a Fox crew.

35:14This is a big budget. You can't comprehend what a 2000, when is that, 2003 or 2004, whenever the Princess was, but what a Fox television show with the budget, we had our own moon. Like you can't, people can't, we're talking a moon, a light so big, a big old floating in the sky movie level budget that would never exist now. It's not that Hollywood doesn't exist. So if you're Kim K and Courtney, you pull up to your stepbrothers reality show over the hill from the valley and they got their own moon, they see their futures. Really? So later when Chris Jenner reaches out to us to like, hey, I want to talk about doing like with Bruce.

36:03And, you know, my head, first off, I'm a hater on The Valley at the time because I'm mad with Palazzo. Valley was not popping like it is now. Thinking, who wants to watch The Valley? I've had a good many years thinking about this as I read all the two billion on Skims and da-da-da. Yeah, I can imagine. I can imagine. Wow. All right. So now, 2010, The Hills ends. You see, you saw the writing on the wall, though. Yeah, I was so close with the president of MTV, Tony Sandoz at that time. He had already given me the heads up. So that final season where I looked the craziest, I was telling, they're editing me out, but I'm yelling at the cast always, like, we're getting canceled.

36:47And their egos, they were like, they'll never cancel. I'm like, he's literally telling me, like, we're done. Yeah, you knew it. So I knew it. So I have that desperation energy mixed with all the family drama going on with my family, with Heidi's family. Because TV and families and drama is just the worst thing you could ever do. Was that, when you think back to low points prior to the last year, when you think back to low points, was that the lowest point for you professionally? No, it was years later even. You know, because then you realize, what did I do? You know, when I went back to college and I'm like, how was I getting all this money?

37:32I was so famous. I just sabotaged it all. So that's, I would say, you know, I feel like, you know, I'm an emotional eater. I started eating pies. I want to say I gained at least 50 pounds off of like fudge brownie pie, apple pie, chocolate brownie pie, just like eating my feelings. I did it again after my house burned down. I'm currently trying to undo, but it wasn't pies this time. It was burritos and margaritas that were supposed to be skinny, but there's no such thing as skinny margaritas, let me tell you. No, no, not at all. It's a total made-up word. But Spencer, why do you keep saying that you sabotaged it?

38:12Choice, choices. I could have set myself up. I'm responsible for what I can control, And I look back and, you know, there's different routes you can always take in life. So, you know, you can blame all these factors or you can think if you want to just like start making sure you don't make, you know. Again, I did it yesterday. I know not to like I've learned not to post when I'm emotional or say things. And yesterday I was so angry. I did a video and I'm still glad I did the video because it was therapeutic. But it wasn't worth it. and I created just energy I didn't need to put into the universe.

38:53So it's like, again, I need to keep making sure that I'm sharp. Right, right. And just so we understand, as much of this that you want to disclose is, you were incredibly wealthy. You were wealthy. You were, well, should I say, you were making lots of money. Yeah, the problem here is with that. To look the most famous possible when you're competing against, in my head and on the list i'm competing with tom cruise angela joe lee literally obama and michelle like these are the people who were popping at the time whether you say like is he insane this is the list it's like you know it was tom cat spidey brangelina there was a usa thing top three most famous couples in the world oh we were there so i'm not like you and heidi were Yeah.

39:44Right there. So the difference is they're real rich. We're like hustler, check to check, fake it till you make it rich, playing way out of our, you know, yes, we're making so much money, but not in Hollywood. Okay. Like for what security costs, travel, hair and makeup. So look at all the girls, women on Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney, Zenda, stylists are paid for, hair and makeup are paid for. all the stars on Gossip Girl that Heidi was competing at that era. Stylists are paid for. Hair and makeup are paid for. Security's paid for. Guess what we're paying for on the hills at the time? Everything. So you make a lot of money.

40:27You have an agent. You have a manager. You have taxes in California. You have a business manager. You have security, stylists, hair and makeup. A lot of money becomes check to check so quick. I see it. I see it. so then to make money once the hills ends what do you do thank god we had created enough so we did a show almost every single year now since the hills ended so right after the hills when it got really scary for like a quick minute heidi got a huge check because uh i think vh1 we did with that show they wanted to give us had a development deal and since we didn't go through with that They had to put her on.

41:11They paid a big check for that project. So instead, they put her on this show called Famous Food, which was one season where they opened a restaurant with some very entertaining characters. Those clips are now going viral on TikTok like two weeks ago. Nobody had ever seen it since. So that was like close to a million dollars right there. Boom. We're breathing again. I see it. Then it was Wife Swap. Then it was our biggest check, Celebrity Big Brother in England. Shout out Richard Desmond for life. I love him forever when he owned Channel 5. And then they brought us back for another huge check for the All-Stars.

41:52Yes. And then Marriage Boot Camp.

41:58Heidi did a mother-daughter experiment. That was a great check. You know, so we brought down the cost of our lives. Now we're not trying to compete against these people. And this is an incredible career if you're just making food at home. Yes, yes. So I see how you were able to decrease the lifestyle, the cost of the lifestyle. What about ego? I mean, I got humbled. The ego was murdered in 2010. like okay you know once you've like you know what I've learned about just fame and everything like right now like my whole life I wanted to be on the cover of Us Weekly I was on so many with Heidi but in my book I told everyone summer school at Call Me QML with lots of witnesses to this day say I said I'm gonna be on the cover Us Weekly it took 20 this yesterday Wednesday I'm on of the full cover of Us Weekly.

42:58Yes, congratulations. Thank you. And it took 20, I don't even know the math, but right now is the peak of technically what I wanted to achieve of fame. With that being said, where you stand right now, when you reflect back on the Hills, just specifically that period, do you have any regrets? Oh, no. I would have gone harder. Would have gone harder? I would have made it so that Jersey Shore never even showed up. They wouldn't even have taken the pilot. I'd have been like, we got the Tasmanian devil over here. This man, five more seasons. Yeah, I got too cozy. I started phoning it in. Even though I look great, I should have hired my own writers.

43:38I should have, you know, writes my ideas, bring in some bringers in my clique. I was just like getting whoever to film with me. I should have been, you know, I had the arc. I should have loaded it. You should have gone up there. I did not think you would say that. Yeah, yeah. When you look at reality TV now, what I notice, especially with the shows that I do, is I feel like not everyone, but there's always multiple people who want to be the villain. Well, now it's like a spot. Let me tell you, I would advise them be careful what you wish for. Here's what the problem with being the villain is. the villain when you're part of the like a franchise works if you're just doing a one-off you're gonna get those hits you're gonna get those views you are gonna not get followers because a lot of people do this get followers people when it really comes down to it people don't follow people they don't like yeah there's people that'll follow to hate and just be like send you know the ghost follow you to like troll and be like but the goal of fame is for people to genuinely like you to want to be connected to you, to want to live through you, through experiences.

44:54So if you go on a show, you're going to go on a dating show. You're going to get that boom, little pop. Everyone's like, oh, I saw you on the show. If you want to keep being connected to fame and attention, there's not a, you know, and I learned that the hard way. If you are a villain, but it's from like, like heartfelt, like back to Simon Cowell. Right. He was a villain, but it had heart behind it. So like, if I could go back to being a villain, I would have been way more cautious. Like, you know, who did it great as a villain is like a Scott Disick. Yes. People just, he just said what he was thinking.

45:31A lot of times it was the truth. You know, he also didn't have them editing against him. It's harder if there was an agenda to like, literally like there was a deal in place with lc to make heidi and spencer the worst human beings are to keep lc going oh really oh so that's hard to you know combat even if you're strategic so there's only so much you know but if you don't have that type of situation because that's very rare like if you're just going on a one-off what you just said i'm literally going to clip and send because I see it all the time. What you just said is the gospel is that when you see a lot of these contributors go on these one-off shows, they want to be the villain because they want the A storyline.

46:16But to your point, no one follows. No one likes that. There's no merchandise or commercial deals that come as a result of that. So why play that? But it's so rampant now that I was talking to a producer not long ago and he said that there are people who teach you to be a villain on reality tv shows like there's literally training for it you know again i'll go for it i'm also not saying don't do it like if you're fine with you just want to work that angle and you know you can work and then go to the bad girls franchise you know zeus will take you or whatever you know there is there's a space there's somewhere but i'm just saying if you if you're not a villain.

46:59Some people who want to be a villain are villains. You're probably a bad guy if you want to be a bad guy. I wanted to be rich and I didn't get the choice to be the hero. They were like, you're not coming on. This show's done. I was like, oh, this is what I'm going to do. And I saw long-term possibility. Also, my plan worked. I'm going to go on this show make it so good they're gonna give us our own show brody and what did mtv do they gave us our own pilot but we were so good my again dumb ass was like no we're good we don't want the show that you're giving us our own let's stay on the hills because there was more money now in the hills but i should have been like bye go do my own thing with brody build up and yeah and get that you know yeah can i ask if you can how much were you making on the hills once it got to like peak I think it was like 120 ,000 episodes.

47:56120 episodes, not bad. You know, and 120 ,000 did a lot more in 2008 than what 120 ,000 does right now. Yeah, not bad. You know, I was just on my own war path. I see. You know, I would have been, I would have played the game. Kim K, another expert at that. And Kim coming up, seven days a week, meetings, da-da. You know, like look at everybody who's super successful that I've watched. They work with every I was just like tunnel. Yeah. And it's like fair enough. We need to talk about how much noise there is in the new year. Reset, reinvent, rebuild. And what I've found usually goes hand in hand with that is pressure.

48:42But this year, how about flipping that pressure into permission to finally try the thing you've been thinking about for months. And not to do it perfectly, but just to start. When I launched my matchmaking business, I was overwhelmed and nervous, but I quickly learned that you don't need all the answers, just the starting point. And that's why I recommend our sponsor Shopify to anyone wanting to build a business where you sell products or services online. Shopify makes the journey easy to start and to keep growing. You get templates to build your store, built-in tools for marketing and even AI that helps with writing copy and editing photos.

49:19You don't need to be a designer or a coder either. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made that first move. So in 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one pound per month trial and start selling today at shopify.co.uk slash need to talk. That's shopify.co.uk slash needtotalk. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home.

50:00With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

50:27Can we talk about your relationship with Heidi? I mean, it's so funny. People always will be like, oh, what's the secret? to like a great relationship or you know I'm always like you know marry an angel you know I wouldn't be married if it was not Heidi I was gonna be a play like a player I was the plan so it's not if you're significant if you find true love you'll know it because there won't be a choice. I didn't want to be in love. I wasn't seeking out. I didn't want to get married and have kids. That was not the plan. So when people are like, oh, what are the secrets? I'm like, it's very simple.

51:15Make sure you find an angel that's so sweet and has faith and is always positive. And when you're so down, they uplift you and want to work. So I always put it back on Heidi because she makes my job as a partner in life very easy so I can't take any credit for like a long lasting relationship because she creates a frequency that's just like this is it you know so there's no hack like people always like what are the relationship tips find the right one you know then Do you know why? Why do you think it is that people ask you so much about that? Well, because it's very rare in Hollywood to make it like 20 years and go against everyone trying to tear you down from family to networks to shows to producers to different family parts.

52:17And, you know, we've been through so much that most people, I think it would be challenging. Yes. So what have you learned about being a husband? Friend, I would imagine Heidi's your best friend as well. So best friend, what have you learned? Because I think that, you know, I'm one foot in the industry, one foot out. But I see how, to your point, there's methodically couples are torn apart, methodically. And I can't imagine how much pressure there's been on your marriage to take you two apart. So what have you learned about why and the importance of showing up and continue to show up and continuing to fight for your marriage?

53:13You know, we've always just tried to have fun. even though when everything was like how did you get through like we were just going to blockbuster renting movies you know eating cheese and crackers in bed you know when it was peak crazy we were just together so outside influences and that it was just static and you know all the way through and you know our communication were I mean there was I want to say it was at least 10 years I feel like we're rarely apart. Now we've had to do some shows separately and done work. But when you're together with somebody so much, you communicate. And you really don't keep things.

54:02If something's bothering you, you address things. We also try to find humor. We're always trying to like a lot of dark humor. just fairly just i could imagine you know so it's like you gotta laugh at just like oh look how could this get worse you know type but that's why i never even try to do the relationship if i because i don't have the formula for anyone i just know for us it is it has never been and obviously parenting was the most challenging yes that's it yes you know that's the only time where you know it's so hard you're you know right now it's like peak hard in our lives the hardest it's ever been because our three-year-old is acting like the eight-year-old till like so then we're just trying to keep them from not smashing their heads anything you know like the stakes are just real like you don't want your kids you know getting injured even though you're like trying to break these two so that's just that pressure where it's not us but it's like we're exhausted it's your turn or you get up and you know that type of stuff like yes i was up to this why was it you know so it's just it doesn't happen so you said that you never planned to be a husband your the plan was to be a player did you ever plan to be a father no because for some reason my own dad who's like the best father ever i don't know if he was just always trying to you know make sure i didn't like do it too soon but like my whole life he was always like oh don't get married and have kids So maybe he just wanted me to see out dreams that he felt with his job and his career.

55:44It's like, boom, right after college, he never left the dental office and was just in the matrix in a way, forever, plugged in. And maybe that was his way of like, see the world, do all these things, don't tie yourself down. So I also had my own dad, who was a great husband and a father, always telling me, don't get married and have kids. So that was always a weird... imprint on me and I was like I'm gonna listen to this guy really so so your thought was well early initially was your your plan wasn't to be a father but then when did that change and then it really didn't want to be a father once like I felt like a failure because I was like you know what are my kids gonna like this is what I've achieved in life you know it's made up you know nothing you know like I I as a you know when you dream if you dream about being a father you want to be like this role model or something great for them to look up to so when I got to the place where I was like in those down times of where Heidi was starting to be like I was like no I guess not I I wouldn't I didn't want to do that to a kid like oh you're going to be Spencer Pratt's kid like I I just didn't, I don't want to add that.

57:02I didn't want them to start negative is the way I saw it. That's interesting. I didn't realize you got to a point where you were, were you ashamed to be? Not proud. I mean, it's not like a win. Nobody looks at what it takes to be hated. When it's strategic, it's a lot easier when it's not strategic and then you're just hating. Yeah. But you were so disappointed in you that you didn't even want to bring children into the situation. You know, what my expectations of my, how hard I worked growing up for everything, school, sport, everything, like what I imagined my, like if you had asked me from a very young age to a very, to how I was too, like there was no doubt in my mind I wasn't going to be a billionaire.

57:59like not even a maybe so to not be a millionaire and was like whoa i did life wrong okay okay how did that then change and at what point do you realize you you wanted to be a father well heidi's you know it wasn't became like more heidi's like it's happening so i feel like that But, you know, I don't think. And then it became more of it's not about me. And one thing I have read and I've noticed, like, some of the biggest superstars, kids, have the hardest time because they're in the shadow of this greatness. So maybe I actually set them up to be the Pratt. Like, you're going to be the one now because.

58:47And then I really started thinking, you know what I do have to pass to my. I didn't know it was going to be sons, but to my sons was what not to do in life. And my dad is a great dad. He never gave me any advice what not to do. He was like, I might as well. You know, he was so supportive and let me just, you know, he's also just busy. Just like he worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Like grinding, no pun intended, teeth. So I wasn't like, I got a game plan now. I know so much about humans and how now it's gotten a whole new tier, but on a whole nother scale. But so that to me is actually, it started becoming, I flipped it.

59:35I'm going to show you the path that you need to go because I can tell you what not to do as an expert. Right, right. And you said it went to a whole nother tier. I would imagine that's the last year. Exactly. So this is really where I want to dig into because I think this has been the most transformational moment of your life or transformational year of your life this last year. So it's almost one year ago. Yeah, last week it was one year. Last week it was one year. So last week, one year ago, your life changes. how so what's interesting is I just saw like a fire victim the other night that I barely knew but our kids were at elementary school together and she's like she said she's been in therapy or whatever and she said well true trauma it takes one year to process how you like really feel and don't make any big decisions until you've had one year to process like true trauma so like this last week's been so much like extra heavy because I'm like, you know, there is no hope, you know, and that's the like, that's the hard part because after it's been a year, you're like, oh, this is actually, this, this doesn't turn out good.

1:01:04There's not like a, there's not like an over the rainbow type, like you get to it. So that's been like the hardest part is getting to this like, this this like

1:01:22You know, part of it that you're like, because when you're in it, you're like, oh, you know, but now when you look, it's been a year and it's actually going backwards. Yes. Things are getting actually worse. There is more is coming out. There's more negative. There's, you know, so that's been the more challenging part to like to process. Are you open to walking us through the day? Because I. Yeah. Yeah, so it was January 7th. We'd actually just spent the last four nights up all night because our seven-year-old at the time had pneumonia. So we had like 103 temperatures. So we're doing that crazy parenting where we're doing shifts, who's up all night, trying to get the temperature down.

1:02:10We're going to the hospital. There's nothing the hospital can do. So, and we had like a nanny that was out of town because it was maybe an end of the holiday break. So we had no backup at all. And so she finally was available. So she comes at 10 a.m. to take the two-year-old up our hiking trail that's back up the street that we went on every day for like eight years where we lived there. And I'm just trying to do my normal routine. I'm making espresso, about to turn on Taylor Swift, and do my look what you made me do, dance, just like my little ritual. and I see her running down, like, holding the two-year-old down from the window.

1:02:51And she runs in and she's like, the workmen up the street say there's a fire. And I'm like, I'm not scared because, you know, there had been two fires in the Palisades before. You know, the helicopters kind of put water on it. You know, I'd already done the whole evacuation thing where Heidi takes the kids. I actually stayed at the house to make sure no one looted it, you know, both times. So I was like, in my head, I'm like, ah, dang, we're going to run this back, you know. So I go up the hiking trail to go see what she's talking about. I see the fire so far away up in the mountains. I'm like, oh, like in my head, I'm like, we are so good because I'm like, they're going to come with the planes and the water.

1:03:30Drop it. So I call Heidi. I'm like, yeah, maybe, you know, pack an overnight bag with some diapers and go down to my parents' house because we're up on the hill. They're down at the bottom of the Palisades. My parents' house is 128 years old, like an old Spanish house down on the bluffs next to the ocean. So Heidi loads up, starts packing. We're also not watching the news because as she's packing, our 7-year-old is locked in on whatever, Blippi or whatever, to try to keep him happy. Which, if I could go back, I probably would have turned on the news and seen, not knowing that the fire actually was coming two ways.

1:04:09So I sent Heidi down to my parents' house, not knowing that it's actually coming closer to my parents' house. So then my older sister calls. She's like, what are you doing? What is Heidi doing at, you know, at our parents' house? I'm like, the fire is coming up by Temesco now. So that's closer to their house. So I call Heidi. I'm like, pack up everything, you know, head up north to Santa Barbara. Like, just get out of here. I'm going to hang around and wait for the firefighters. And like, you know, because we also live next to right across the street from the water reservoir. Do you? Okay. Not knowing that they drained the water reservoir.

1:04:49So I'm so confident, you know, literally to the point where I have a video where I'm watching these guys up by the water reservoir. And I think they're because next to the water is one of those things where the helicopters dip into it. And I'm thinking they dip into it. They just fly next to where I'm dropping the water. Also, I've lived there eight years. Firefighters are always on their street, on our street, doing the drills. So I'm like, we're good. I don't hear any sirens throughout the day. I'm like, what's going on? I call. So this fire starts coming now closer. I'm like, oh, this is getting a little, this is getting weird.

1:05:28And there's no helicopter ever coming, and there's no firefighters ever coming. So now I call the direct line of my fire station. I was going to say 45 seconds from my house. Let's say, if you're slow down, the fire station is three minutes from my house. I call the direct number that I got on my phone. I say, yeah, can you get a fire truck on this street? Because in my head, I'm like, well, here's the hillside. It comes down. There's the reservoir. All this cement. And so all you got to do is get a fire truck right here to where it's all overgrown brush from the state park. Hit it with the water.

1:06:09It can't come and hit my whole block. They say, I swear to God, I'm so glad how you told me to call because I would always have that thought. Like, why didn't I call and tell them? Yes. And I call and they go, oh, there's no assets available. I'm thinking, there's only so many streets like ours that connect to the state park. So in my head, I'm like, this is exactly where you put assets. And at this time, I still don't know the reservoir has no water in it. So I'm still hanging out there. Now it's the fire started like 10, 25 in the morning. It's elite. My dad's now left work. He's up there with me, and we're just watching it on the hill, just watching them dropping the water on it from the plains.

1:06:50I'm thinking, okay, we're staying positive. My dad is not aware that his house is in danger. Okay. For some reason, his brain can't process that. So we're on this hill watching it all the way until it starts wrapping around. So now I call again. I'm like, okay, nothing's coming. So you call a second time, and what do they respond? No, nobody's coming. They just said no one's coming? No one's coming. And so my dad gets the hose, and he's trying to hose things off. and then he tells me, just go. I'll hang around here. Go be with your family. Da, da, da, da. I do the flip a coin thing all the time.

1:07:35Do I die? Do I stay? Obviously, why flip a coin? I do know people that stayed and saved their houses with buckets and hoses. I also know people that die with hoses in their hand. So you can play that. You know, what if I could go back in time, the thing that I didn't do that I know now you could have done. At 1030 in the morning when I went up and saw the fire, I get on Google and I search private firefighters water truck. And you pay the 50 grand and I would have put one at my parents' house and one at my dad's house. But I was still in this naive, I'm a taxpayer. We have water in the reservoirs.

1:08:16We have firefighters. They are coming. That's coming. People that are smart hired firefighters, save blocks in the Huntington Palace states with one water truck, whole entire parts of neighborhoods, one private firefighters with the water truck. And that cost$50 ,000. I mean, that's what I, maybe less. You know, I just, you know, you know, we could check Google. We could be, I'm pretty sure I heard 50 grand. I know somebody that was 50 grand. So you decide in that moment, you know what, I'm going to go. I'm going to leave. But your father. He stays. And I was watching him on my ring doorbell with, like, the little hoes, like, watching us across that comes up from the state park, just like, and he's just so just, so I'm calling him, like, so I actually drive back when I see him on the ring, and I'm like, get out of here.

1:09:09I, like, yell at him. I'm like, leave. So he leaves, and then, like, I'm like, it's not worth it. Like, leave. And I watch him on the ring. He comes back. I'm like yelling through the ring, like, get out of there. So finally he leaves, but I don't realize he goes to his house. So now his phone's dead. It all worked out because as I'm watching my actual house burn to the ground on the security cameras, I'm more concerned about my dad burning alive that I can't reach knowing he's trying to save his house down the hill. And so I can't get a hold of him. I've now left where I can't get back in. and they blocked the town.

1:09:51And so I call 911 now. Okay. And I say, I can't reach my dad. This is the address. Please send emergency personnel to go. You know, he could have had smoke inhalation. He could have had a heart attack. He could have fainted. And I've been trying to get this 911 call for a year just so people can hear it. And they say, no emergency personnel is going to that area. As I'm telling them, my dad, who's 75, 76, could be dead or dying. they tell me on 9-1-1 no one's going to that area. Your home burned down completely. Your parents' home burned down completely. What I didn't realize is that you were able to watch it happen in real time through the ring camera.

1:10:42No, through the whole camera system. Through the whole camera system. Oh yeah, your security system. What what's going through your mind as you're watching it? Like I said, thank God I thought my dad was burning alive. So I was like, it felt like less important. You know, it was like, it was surreal, but I really thought my dad was, because the last I talked to him, he sounded like loopy. And he was like, and he was like, you should see the, like, he sounded crazy. And he's like, you should see these flames and these embers. They're like golf balls. I'm like, dad, you're going to like, you're going to die.

1:11:19And he's like, no, I'll jump in the pool and I'll hold my breath. And he sounded so crazy because he knew my house just burned to the ground. And now his house, you know, he so he lost it, you know, to the point that next day he hiked in, which I wouldn't do that hike into the Palisades from Santa Monica on a good day, let alone when the fires are still going on the eighth, when so many things are still burning. He hiked in to see if his house had made it just like out of hope Like that's how nutso he gotten. Yeah when you come back To witness where your home was What's the first thought that comes over your mind?

1:12:02I wasn't as like You know obviously I made like silly videos and I was trying to stay positive because I was probably having Like a nervous break, you know I don't know that like science medical term, but I was probably gone I probably compartment like I was on. Typically at first it's denial. Yeah, like this is like, so I was playing in the ashes to the point where, you know, a year later I have all these skin things from the toxic debris that I was like digging out crystals and looking at my espresso machine. And also I thought I had insurance because I did for eight years. I had farmers. But when they dropped everybody, you got stuck with California Fair Plan.

1:12:44And I did so much to get on California Fair Plan, like cutting back all these trees and sending in photos and all this that I thought I had all this coverage. I didn't get this was like nothing. So I was on this like, OK, everything's replaceable. And I'm probably still in my head, you know, you know, they're just possession, you know, that I'm going to rebuild with the insurance. not knowing that I don't have enough insurance money to now, because of the new zonings and permits, put the caissons that are required that cost a million, too, which is more than my insurance gave me, to put the cement before I can start building a house.

1:13:22When something like this happens, how does it impact your family, your boys, your wife? How does that impact how you show up in this world as a family? I mean, I just went right into like trying to promote Heidi's music because the timing was so weird because it was the 15 year anniversary of her album, Superficial. So I had been working for a year to like have all these remixes and have this album come out on the 10th and our house burned down on the 7th. So whenever people are like, oh, how do you think it was like it at all? It was all already set up. So once that I was like, oh, my God, we need so much money.

1:14:06I really had this false hope from what the music business was that if I could get Heidi's music number one, we'd make enough money to rebuild. Once I know I didn't get that going number one on all these charts and top billboard, we would get$150 ,000, which is, again, a miracle blessing. But to rebuild, to be clear, our house was 2 ,400 square feet. To rebuild that, we need$4 million. Four million. It's a 2 ,400 square foot house. You and Heidi had no other income, right? We put all of our money into that house. That was our thing we were giving to our kids. Every detail was upgraded. Every toilet, every pipe was copper.

1:14:51Every AC was HEPA filter. Eight years of, okay, every dish, every table we custom built with stones. Also, don't forget, every pretty much dollar I ever spent was on museum-grade crystals that all went up in value. It was not like a bad investment. That was my inheritance for my kids. All gone. All gone. All gone. So what the value of what you lost, and I don't know if it's hard to just value. There's millions. Millions. Millions. At least two million in just crystals. In just crystals. everything Heidi had ever bought designer clothes every suit of people like oh he's always in short you think I can go buy all my designer clothes that I've bought all the way through being like on tv shows and think is you have to wear nice stuff to go on red carpets to do it's part of the business like you have to buy nice stuff right and you keep it and I you know like Heidi had all her shoes that were for you know you could say like oh it's like but that's part of her business you know so yeah that moment turns into you making a huge announcement this week how how so yeah i mean let's be clear it last week's announcement never happens unless i don't find out for one year what led to my house burning down and the aftermath of the cover-up so I would be talking about Heidi's new album right now in my book this that announcement like there's people like the mayor actually just said to ABC7 that I made that announcement to profiteer off my book I lost yesterday a$75 ,000 endorsement deal for three TikToks that was already all in play because I'm now into politics this does not help so if you want to go along with, oh, I did that to promote my book.

1:16:51I'm now$75 ,000 in the whole negative in how many books I have to sell just off of what I had to announce. So the idea, I was going to host a dating show, the production company called Yesterday Also, because it's all this week. And they say they're concerned moving forward with the development on a big franchise, because what if I were to win? And I go, why don't we cross that bridge? You know, like, okay, God forbid, if that's your problem, I win as mayor of LA, which, you know, I don't know the odds. Like, this is a pretty, who knows, but Heidi's the host now. You get a lovely gentleman to co-host with her, and you have the mayor of LA as executive producer.

1:17:37But that, no, they're of all concerned. So that's a potential television, big host format project that we've been developing for almost two years from a big thing that's a hit all over Europe. Now that's like on hold and$75 ,000 in one day. So they want to say that, you know, I'm doing this for a promo. It's way easier to just promote a book. Now I have to go on all these interviews that they want to talk about that. They don't want to talk about the book. Right. All the things lined up that were my book tour has now changed to what the questions are. The publisher's not happy. Right, right. I've had two Zooms where I could show you a screenshot right now.

1:18:19They don't want me to post about all the stuff I normally post for the last year for the next two weeks. I can't do that because now I am a voice for an audience of people that need. There's a journey we're on. right and i can't just go oh you know two weeks we're gonna do a tactical pause guys i gotta sell my books you know so back to the announcement why so what i find out our town should have never you know never burn right after it happens i'm like you know obviously everyone's like it's a land grab everyone's like maui and i'm like this is all conspiracy i'm not doing this they're telling me It's 100 mile per hour hurricane winds.

1:19:05It's an unprecedented fire, storm, blah, blah. You know, I'm going along with all the propaganda because I'm deep in, you know, promoting Heidi's music. So I come to find out that the Palisades fire, January 7th, did not start January 7th. January 1st, on New Year's Eve, there was a, you know, alleged, he's got an arson case, but there's an individual who started a fire at Skull Rock. He says, his lawyer says, it was accidental. He did call 911, which even the Justice Department says, 12 times from the second of ignition. So whether he was crazy and lit it and backed out or it was an accident and he's still crazy, does not matter.

1:20:01Firefighters come. They put it out. So that's what they say. Okay, this is on the 1st of January. This is 1st of January. 1st and 2nd, they're checking on it. They still have hoses up there on the 2nd. It was not out. it was smoldering visibly on the second multiple people sent called 9-1-1 they called the fire department they were posting hiking videos of it just just straight up smoke coming out of the dead brush yes uh hiking videos we have a drone video that people can go watch on the second somebody from down the street thank god there's hobbyists this guy had a thermal drone just because people got stuff.

1:20:45He flies his drone. You can see it in the thermal, the whole side. First off, the state park, which the state government is responsible for, they're responsible to be checking that with a drone. They're responsible for walking up there, not hiking, and seeing it smooing and be like, hey, bring the water back. So there's a known wind event that the city, the state, red flag, dry conditions. They're tweeting about it for days. Also, in past fires in 2019, they left firefighters for days sleeping on the site. The last fire up there, they left the hoses up there for 18 months. They took the hoses down in a day and a half, pulled them all down.

1:21:32So then I started having whistleblower. I have a whistleblower firefighter. The timelines, I'm just going to throw things. I have a whistleblower firefighter to tell me it was visibly smoldering when we left. So I'm finding all this stuff out while I'm watching the fire department and the mayor with after action reports. You go back to the LA Times from like the 70s, the engineer that built and created from LAW built that reservoir, built it for firefighting purposes for that, the Palisades community. They argue that water was for drinking, not to fight fires, even though the literal LA Times has the photo of the guy standing talking about why he built it.

1:22:14Then they decide after they drain it, oh, we can't fill it back up. It's too dangerous. So they leave two reservoirs that the helicopters use. So they'll tell you that all the water in the world wouldn't have stopped this fire. So instead of going 30 seconds, water, drop, water, drop. They're flying all the way to Malibu to Pepperdine and all the way to Encino in the valley. to get water. These helicopters spend 66 % of their time in the air going to get water versus 66 % of the time putting the water on the origin of fire. They have secret maps of all the protected plants surrounding the Palisades that in their own manual from 2025, they say if there's a fire in the Palisades, in quotes is why I usually wear the hat that says, let it burn.

1:23:05Gavin Newsom, in his state park manual says, let it burn. Because they actually want it to burn if there is a fire because of growth of their plants that they're protecting. So when those firefighters go to put out a fire in the state park, they're not allowed to clear fire breaks with dozers. So dozers are just bulldozers, called dozers. They're not allowed to bring heavy equipment because they don't want to mess with the milk vetch, which is a plant I had never even heard of. Guess what happened to all the milk fetch? Gone. 25 ,000 acres are gone. Guess what happened to the lions, mountain lions, the bears, the lizards, the snakes, the birds, the humbers, all dead.

1:23:48And that's why there aren't proper fire breaks surrounding state parks. And this is going to happen in Bel Air. God forbid, you know, it's inevitable. Okay. Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Topanga on the other side that didn't burn. It's happening. And they're going to say it's unprecedented again, but it's not. There's 10 ,000 victims suing to get 70 % of what they lost back from the state. And Gavin Newsom called myself and these 10 ,000 victims opportunistic plaintiffs. We're trying to get 70 % back and we're opportunistic plaintiffs. You have the mayor calling me despicable, trying to profiteer on the anniversary because of my book.

1:24:31Right. Then you also had the LA Times. called you a conspiracy theorist? Yeah, for something, if it was a conspiracy, that$100 million that Newsom was going to build the affordable housing into the Palisades and bring that, if it was a conspiracy, why, when then I asked about it, did they pause it? Because if it was a conspiracy, they go, this guy, no, here's all, he's wrong, he's wrong, he's wrong. They paused that bill. Okay, okay. So. Okay. So this is what has inspired you to run for mayor. 100%. If Karen Bass had stepped down and resigned, or if somebody was the last year fighting all these people, like in a political position and was going to like go after them, I would just stay in my lane.

1:25:20But nobody is. And we're going to get four more years. And this is what I keep going because people all go, oh, but he only cares about the Palisades. Well, the Palisades is gone. I don't think I'll ever be able to rebuild at my trajectory of the incomes I'm getting now. Like I got in nine years ago before. Like, so I'm not actually fighting for myself in the palisades. I'm fighting for justice, for what was done to the life I actually can't get back. What I do have is no relationships, no favors, no 40 years of being an entrenched politician with deals and plans. I'm not a I don't even want to do this.

1:26:00I have to do this. It's a big difference. So all of the things that they say are like my niggas. I look at as a positive. Like I'm like, no, actually, you're you're actually gassing me up. So on the first day, I think a question a lot of people have with regard to politicians is on their first day. What do you do? Oh, I mean, what do you do on your first day? If you I mean, the list is is the list is so long. But if you don't like ice, let me tell you, you're going to get three guaranteed more years of ICE and way more ICE in LA if you keep Karen Bass. Guaranteed. What I can do is first day of mayor, I can fly to Washington and make a deal similar to what the mayor of San Francisco made.

1:26:45Just to be clear though, you want ICE out of LA. I want what LA wants. I'm fighting for LA and it's clear LA doesn't want. So that's where my politics stand. I want what my city wants. The choices, the city does not want people legally selling drugs on the street, everyone ODing on fentanyl. That's not a political thing. Somebody used the word, I don't even know all this word. Somebody called me a populist. I don't even know, but I hear them like... Then you'll take it. Oh yeah, like that sounds right. I'm in common sense. So if this is the case, are you going to subscribe to a particular political party?

1:27:22No, it's a nonpartisan race. There's no letter next to my name. So you're running as? I'm running as a Los Angeles native that wants his city back. That's why I said the end of my speech, I want a camera ready for the Olympics. They can't have the Olympics in LA right now. I don't even know how we're going to have the World Cup. People don't even want to visit here. They can lie and say, oh, that's all the haters. I'm from here. I grew up here. I know what LA is supposed to look like. I've driven around my whole life going to the Staples Center when it was Staples, not crypto, going to Dodge. I know what LA is supposed to look like.

1:27:55This is not like some new breaking idea I have. So that's why people try to put me in boxes. Oh, he's this. He's like, no, I'm not actually. I'm straight common sense. I went with every tax paying person that can't afford to live in LA that even though they can't afford it, it's awful too. Like it looks horrible. You can't afford to live somewhere. It's horrible looking. Right. And so for the people who say, oh, I don't know if I can take him seriously. Like, is he really is he trying to promote a book? Is he trying to just make money? What is your response to that? If you like what Karen Bass has done for L.A., then I don't take you seriously.

1:28:34You know, period. I also do you know how many smart people from all over the planet when they saw me do this have reached out to be advisors, to consult? And then the other thing is, if you're going to say, like, I'm part of a political party, 70 % of the Palisades voted for Kamala Harris. People I've been fighting for a year are, if we're going to talk about, are hardcore liberal Democrats. So I've already been fighting for the people of that party. So it's not, I don't have. You're going to vote. But can you disclose, who did you vote for in the last presidential election? Well, it came out, which everyone went crazy, that I was a registered Republican.

1:29:16But if you look, I've never talked politics a day in my life, period. If you really want to go down to why I was even registered Republican, and it's in my book, when I was fearing for my life, when there was threats against my life, I got a gun. Heidi got a gun. So I was just always a gun owner. And so if I hear anything with guns, I'm like, if Democrats had talked guns back then, I probably would have been a registered Democrat. So that was the only thing that ever connected with me politically because of so many years of fearing for our situation and being a legal gun owner. So that's like...

1:29:54Which is fair. But who did you vote for in the last election? I voted for Trump. Okay. Yeah. Oh, because you're registered Republican? Yeah. Okay. So do you think that that then impacts your run here in L.A.? No. Not at all. Because anybody that listens to what I say, people will be like, oh, this or that. Does Karen Bass, I don't know. I have a trans employee on our monthly payment, trans employee. Heidi's whole crew is gay. I travel everywhere for the last year with a gay crew. Heidi has two songs with amazing trans art. Like you can't box me up with other people's politics. You know, I don't even do politics.

1:30:39I would never even want to do this. Again, the lawyers not even voted because it's like, oh, my gun rights. That's like if Biden had been like, yo, I want you to keep your CCWs in Cal. Who knows what happened, you know, but I didn't hear anything about. So like I know not everyone loves guns, But once you have people death threats for many, many years, whether it's not still the Internet, but I had that for years. You go do the proper training. You do that. You also have law enforcement tell you you should probably do that. You know, so that's been my only, you know, other people fight for all sorts of things.

1:31:17But that's like my, I just like, you know. If you look back at your life, you know, isn't it interesting that if you were to go back and talk to Spencer at 18 or 17 and say, you know what, one day you're going to run for mayor of L.A., what would you have responded with at 18? I probably would have believed it. Oh, you would have? Yeah, I mean, like I was in La La Land then. Anything was possible. You know, like I was living like Willy Wonka. you know like yes i'm supposed to be a billionaire so you know but but but but but perhaps that's not what you're supposed to no i mean that's but my in my mind like what when you think about how rare being a billionaire you're way more often you're way more likely to be a mayor of la than a billionaire yes so yeah i was way off like this is true yeah this is true so you are officially running for Oh my god, it's like, it's all legal and everything, yeah.

1:32:15This is it. I mean, can you even say that for us? Like you are - Yeah, I mean, I don't know. You may have to - I think I'm allowed to say whatever I want, just not on my own podcast, which is so funny. Yeah, exactly, because here you can. Yeah. You can. So this is - but yeah, you can say it. Yes, I am winning Mayor of LA in May, because I can win outright in May, 51 % of the vote. She's just done. In these elections, what I see is that having the support from big entities or people go a long way, especially in a mayoral election. Do you feel like you're going to get that support from your friends, from the many people that you know here in L.A.?

1:33:00I don't think so. But what I'm going to say to everybody is when you vote for Spencer Pratt or Karen Bass, nobody's watching you. You can tell everybody at every dinner party, I can't believe I had to vote for Karen Bass four more years of this nightmare, but you could have secretly voted for me. You don't have to tell people you voted for Spencer Pratt. And I think that's going to be a lot of people that when they really see both of our names, they're going to be like, what has Karen Bass done to see? Let's do this Hail Mary. I remember, I think it was more so the 2016 when Donald Trump came into office the first time.

1:33:35I felt like the exit polls were leaning towards Hillary Clinton, but yet Donald Trump won, right? So people got in the booth, if you will, and selected Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, but left and said, oh, I voted for Hillary. You think it's going to be the same thing for you? What, like, I know I'm winning. LA is that bad. They can go on the media. They can lie. All her people, you know, anyone who lives here, the amount of, like, people you'd never think that would reach out to me that have come like those people you're talking about yes that aren't asking to do it publicly but you would never think are offering to help do you need help writing speeches really people that are that want hollywood back they want people that should be writing obama speeches you know like really you know so far i haven't needed you know i'm just yelling so far on ig we haven't even started my campaign so people also don't like oh he doesn't have any all my policies everything they're going to want like I'm going to have all the expert policy we're going to get everything what people want the plan on paper so that's coming like my kickoff at Don Antonio's which is in my first date with Heidi on the hills of course we're bringing it back for my mayor kickoff is February 4th at Don Antonio's let's let's just just give give one moment to the book is that just in what we have talked about, I need to read the book because I haven't read the book.

1:35:03But just with the little, just the little bit that, well, you gave us a lot, but just that is I feel like I need to. But what do you think the reader gets from the book? They find out what in particular? Well, even though I usually always hate on the LA Times the LA Times journalists that uh review my book when she called to like talk about it and I mean I have beef with them always so like yeah you do they yeah yeah yeah always there's always you know so and they take all my things that I break and then you know act like they got Pulitzers for all my scoops I post you know so it's not like my friends and they call and she said she could not put the book down for 48 hours straight and she said her exact quote was like this book is going to do gangbusters she's like it's on you know so i you know it's my life and i think it's pretty damn entertaining but to hear the ops you know hi but i was like okay let's go so this is so i do i am very confident in what's in the book because it's so james franco who already swore on his life that he has the rights to make the movie of the book and like write and direct it so like that's how good he thinks the book is that he's fought to to take this book into the into hollywood you know yeah i can't wait to read it man no like and i do read the audiobook so if you're not a you know obviously i'd love for you to buy the hardcover but if you're not a hardcover person i spent two weeks since heidi just worked with the best music people in the world i brought in her vocal producer to comp nobody does this for an audio book yeah i I have Kid Laroi's vocal producer comping my audio book.

1:36:48And then I said that to the poster. Like, wow. So like the audio book's going platinum, you know, like, you know, I've never heard of any. Nobody's done that. Yeah, nobody's done that. Oh my God. All right. So last question, everyone gets it. Can't wait to get your answer is if you think back to all of the amazing conversations you've had throughout your life, which conversation is the most memorable? who was it with and what did you learn?

1:37:23I'll say God, you know, because

1:37:34I don't know what I've learned yet, but just

1:37:41Just be like, God have a plan. Yes.

1:37:50You know what? When you announced when you were running, I saw the emotion. Through this conversation, I've seen the emotion. Are you proud of yourself today? No. I haven't accomplished anything. They keep lying. They're going to get away with this. You know, that's why I'm, this is my only chance to like get justice. These people need to be fired. These people need to lose their jobs. If this was a private industry, this wouldn't even be a conversation. So no, I have not done anything. Like I said, like I told you, I'm at a year and I have less hope of like, like, no. Well, I want to say this is I didn't know what was going to happen in this conversation.

1:38:42I didn't know who I was going to get. I was definitely excited to sit down and talk to you. I could see that we have lots of values, I think, that you and I share. There are certain aspects of our life that that we don't share. But I tell you what, man, I'm proud of you. I am. I think that what I didn't realize is how much of a fighter you are. And what I feel like is, is throughout your life, you didn't necessarily know what you were fighting for, but you have been placed in a position that perhaps for the first time, you know what you're fighting for. Right. And I think that is something to be proud of.

1:39:29well I just gotta deliver now you know like because I'm like I gotta do this yes yeah you're but but I know that you feel like you're going to be proud at the end at the destination but be proud of the journey as well man be proud of the fight you know find give yourself grace in that i've tried you know it's hard to like you know it is you just feel like you're always in the negative but you're the fighter no i know so i you know yeah yeah you are the book right there uh the book is the guy you love to hate uh but from this conversation maybe it's the guy that you actually love? Well, we'll find out.

1:40:22We'll find out. We'll find out. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, really appreciate it. What a fun day. Oh, my gosh. You're going to have many fun days like this, especially if you become mayor. Spencer Pratt, wow. It blew through all expectation. What I did not realize about Spencer is how methodical he's been throughout his entire life. Also, what I didn't realize is he's always stood up to authority. He carries that narrative through his entire life to today, where he is literally confronting the government of California. There's no question he's in love with Heidi, and Heidi's in love with him.

1:41:11but I think we have to take everything we've seen of them with a pinch of salt. Producers and networks and other entities were actively trying to break them up. That's something that we have to take a minute and say, wow, not only did they just stay together for almost two decades, but they stayed together in the face of people actively trying to break them up. He knows this. The first question that people have today about Spencer Pratt running for mayor is, are you for real? Which suggests that many people think it's a joke or it's a publicity stunt. From what we saw here, it is not. The challenge that he has is that the brand that he's built throughout his entire adult life is of someone that will manipulate the public or the press for his own good.

1:42:09There's no doubt that I have that he's actually running for mayor. And he believes he will win. He's one of the most iconic people in reality TV. And when you think about how every reality television show has a villain, part of that points back to Spencer Bratt. I think we got a great glimpse of L.A. and what it does to you.

1:42:52Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra. That's the OG. It kicked off this whole Zero Sugar Energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian, Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the white can, branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe. And every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more. Thought Sweetgreen was just salads? Think again. There's a new way to do Sweetgreen. Wrapped and ready. These handheld wraps pack bold flavor and 40 plus grams of protein into something hearty, satisfying, and built for life on the go.

1:43:35From craveable sauces to satisfying textures. They're designed to keep you going without slowing you down. So put that fork down. Try the new wraps today in app or at order.sweetgreen.com. Available at participating locations only. Burnout Paradise is hailed as the wildest night out in New York City by Time Out New York. Now off-Broadway at the Astor Place Theater, it's a live show you'll never forget as the people on stage make a desperate attempt to complete a series of escalating tasks, all while running on treadmills. And if they don't complete their to-do list in one hour's time, you can get your money back.

1:44:14Get tickets today at burnoutparadise.com. you