Highlights
- Most relationships on The Hills were fabricated for dramatic effect, leading to the portrayal of fake relationships on the show.
- The cast’s job roles on The Hills were also manipulated, with roles at Teen Vogue and People’s Revolution being part-time or fake.
- Audrina Patridge was cast on The Hills and her first meeting with Heidi Montag was set up for the cameras.
The Hills was a pioneer in the world of reality television. Long before real housewives were fighting, audiences followed the professional and personal lives of several women living in Los Angeles. The American reality television series lasted for six seasons on MTV from May 31, 2006, until July 13, 2010.
The spinoff to Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County introduced the world to Speidi, Audrina Patridge and her on/off relationship with Justin Bobby and Lauren Conrad’s never-ending dramas. The Hills became a pop culture phenomenon that is still popular over a decade later.
Although The Hills always declared itself to be a reality show, many viewers have pointed out how manufactured the drama is and how fake the relationships are. Most of the relationships on the show and their ups and downs were totally fabricated.
“The drama, and the things that happened, were really real. It just had to really extend and have to be so drawn out, and we had to really dramatize things for the sake of a TV show,” Whitney Port explained about her time on the iconic reality show.
The Jobs On The Hills Weren’t All Real
One of the key focuses of The Hills was the jobs of the cast members. Some of the roles were real, some were set up for the cameras and some of the jobs showcased on the MTV show were totally fake.
Whitney Port’s time at Teen Vogue was organic to start with. “I applied for an internship at Teen Vogue for the fall … and they said, ‘If you want the job, you kinda have to be comfortable with a camera crew because MTV’s starting to film a TV show here.’” Port admits that while the people and reactions were real, some of the scenarios were set up by production.
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For the first three seasons of The Hills, Whitney and Lauren Conrad were interns at Teen Vogue, running errands and doing the grunt work. In reality, the two reality stars were part-time interns.
“I was a student, as well as filming a TV show, and Lauren was obviously — she had a full-time job filming a TV show. So, we weren’t able to be full-time interns.”
“But we were called in for various projects they wanted us to film.”
During the opening moments of season three, Lauren explained that Whiteny received a promotion at Teen Vogue, making her Lauren’s boss. This was also inaccurate to reality. “I wasn’t ever really hired by Teen Vogue,” Whitney explained. “It was all the same to me. I was never really given any extra responsibility.”
A few episodes later, Whitney left Teen Vogue to work at People’s Revolution. This PR job was real but was also part-time. “Kelly [Cutrone] knew the time commitments of the show, and she knew our restraints, so she knew my job wouldn’t be a full-time job,” Whitney shared.
Spencer Pratt’s sister Stephanie Pratt never actually worked for Kelly Cutrone, despite appearing to have an internship. Kelly revealed that she only brought Stephanie onboard to give Lauren the experience of firing someone.
Heidi Montag also revealed she never worked at Bolthouse Productions. Her entire PR job was manufactured for the show, including the drama about her stealing a promotion from her coworker Elodie.
Audrina Patridge Was Cast On The Hills And Not An Organic Part Of The Story
Audrina Patridge’s inclusion in The Hills was not organic. She was actually sought out and added to the friend group, not knowing Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag prior to filming.
Audrina explained to her former co-stars on their podcast Was It Real? that the girls were purposely separated from the others to ensure their first meeting was on camera. According to the reality star, she lived in the same apartment building as Lauren and Heidi, but all three were not allowed to get coffee or use the pool for two weeks. This prevented the trio from meeting before the cameras were turned on.
“They set it up, and I had to run home, get a bikini on, and run down to the pool, and then I laid there, and Heidi came in, and we met.”
The romance between
Audrina and Spencer was also totally fabricated
. There were no dates between the pair, and the time he surprised her with flowers at Pinkberry was totally set up. “Oh, God, no! I did not have history with [Spencer] and this was one of the things that really upset me, and this was when I started distrusting the producers.”
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Audrina Patridge remained a part of
The Hills
from season 1 to the final season ,season 6 and filmed 106 episodes.
Why Kristen Cavallari Joined The Hills
When Lauren Conrad left The Hills, producers Liz Gateley and Adam DiVello weren’t sure how much longer the show could continue. But then the pair remembered the breakout star from Laguna Beach, their previous show, Kristin Cavallari.
”We spoke to Kristin a few times about [The Hills],” explained Adam, but “there was never a natural time to bring her in.” Without Lauren they found a way to add Kristin to the cast of the show. They realized she was a good way to add a new spin on the show. She was hosting UPN’s 2006 reality series Get This Party Started when she got the call. The aspiring actress hoped her appearance on The Hills would boost her profile and help her acting career.
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Kristin was reintroduced during Heidi and Spencer’s season-finale wedding. Kristin and Stephen Colletti were involved in a love triangle with Lauren Conrad during Laguna Beach. She admits she heightened some of the drama, playing the role the producers expected from her.
“When I decided to come on board, I made a decision and I was like, ‘Okay, this is my job and I’m going to separate my Hills life from my real life.’”
The Hills
returned to MTV from 2019 to 2021 with a reboot series,
The Hills: New Beginnings
, which focused on Brody Jenner, Audrina, Heidi and Spencer. Lauren Conrad was not featured in the revival.
The Hills
- Release Date
- May 31, 2006
- Cast
- Lauren Conrad , Heidi Montag , Audrina Patridge , Whitney Port , Kristin Cavallari , Lo Bosworth , Stephanie Pratt
- Seasons
- 6
- Writers
- Sean Travis
- Network
- MTV
- Showrunner
- Adam DiVello