Twenty years after becoming reality TV’s most infamous antagonist on The Hills, Spencer Pratt has entered perhaps his most unexpected era yet: a respected political candidate. (Yes, really!) The 42-year-old TV personality turned crystal entrepreneur and hummingbird enthusiast is currently running for mayor of Los Angeles, steadily surging in the polls. His campaign videos rack up millions of views. Celebrities and CEOs are backing him. Fire victims stop him to hug him. Fans are making AI-generated Batman edits portraying Pratt as the city’s unlikely savior. Even people firmly against the idea of a man whose elaborately staged paparazzi photos once dominated this very magazine running a city can’t seem to look away.
What initially seemed like another internet-fueled celebrity stunt has evolved into something far more culturally revealing: a reflection of L.A.’s frustration, exhaustion and appetite for an outsider. During a May 6 debate with incumbent mayor Karen Bass and fellow candidate Nithya Raman, an NBC4LA online poll found that 89 percent of respondents believed Pratt won the night. On May 20, none other than fellow reality TV veteran President Donald Trump praised Pratt, telling reporters, “I’d like to see him do well. He’s a character.” (Pratt, Bass and Raman will face off in a June 2 primary; the two winners will advance to a November 3 election.)
Despite his lack of political experience, Pratt — who shares sons Gunnar, 8, and Ryker, 3, with wife Heidi Montag, 39 — has emerged as the race’s unlikely dark horse. His platform is focused on law and order, tackling L.A.’s unhoused and drug-addicted populations and wildfire recovery efforts — the very issue that spurred his mayoral run after he and his parents lost their Pacific Palisades homes in the January 2025 wildfires. He has criticized Bass’ response to the disaster; she has accused him of exploiting people’s grief.
Over the last few weeks, his campaign has gained momentum and attracted donations and support from entertainment heavyweights, including record exec Lucian Grainge, L.A. Lakers CEO Jeanie Buss and film producer Brian Grazer. Celebrities like Paris Hilton, Big Sean and Jenny McCarthy have been hyping him up on social media, and David Foster and Katharine McPhee hosted a lavish fundraiser at their home in mid-May. “We are part of the exhausted majority that is begging for a clean and safe city for all Angelenos,” Foster and McPhee tell Us Weekly. “We believe Spencer is the right man for the right job at the right time.”
Not everyone’s buying it. On TikTok, Chelsea Handler unfavorably likened Pratt to Trump, saying “a straight, white male [and] former reality star that has no previous experience in government should not be a legitimate political candidate.” And in a statement to Us, Bass’ campaign spokesperson Alex Stack accuses Pratt of “running a campaign based on AI slop and no plans,” adding, “While he talks about conspiracy theories, Karen Bass is talking about delivering results — historic reductions in crime and homelessness, building more housing, fighting to keep the film industry in L.A., and protecting our communities from ICE.”
Either way, Spencer Pratt has once again become one of the most talked-about names in L.A. But does that mean he can oversee a city of nearly 4 million people? And why does he want to? “It doesn’t really matter who’s behind me,” Pratt tells Us. “This is my destiny.”
Take Us to the beginning. How did Heidi react when you first told her you wanted to run for mayor?
She’s obviously very supportive. Heidi is so locked in with Jesus, she just keeps saying, “God has a great purpose for you, honey.”
When did you realize this was something you wanted to take seriously?
It was always very serious, but when I announced [my run] in front of thousands of fire victims, everyone cheered so much that it kicked off a new path of being taken seriously. And as I go to all of these communities and meet with community leaders, they just have so much faith in me.
Had you ever thought about getting into politics before?
Absolutely not. Politics is the quickest way to make people not like your entertainment, and I always had more fun trying to be entertaining. No matter what side of politics you’re on, you lose 50 percent of your audience.
Do you feel like this is your purpose?
I truly never imagined I would actually probably [become] the mayor. I just wanted somebody to [tell] the truth, and I wanted to have that platform as a candidate against [Bass] to get the truth. You can just get away with lying if you don’t have somebody saying that’s not true.
Your campaign has made a huge splash online.
The internet’s great, I love it, and it’s a great tool for social media, but the interactions I have with people are what continue to drive me. It doesn’t matter if I have all these viral videos — [it’s about] what I feel from people in the streets around L.A. That energy shows me how much support [I have].
Why would you make a good mayor?
What people want from me is somebody to tell them the truth. I [know] what it feels like when you’re the victim of the city’s failures — whether your house burned down or you were attacked or robbed, or you lost your job because restaurants have closed and Hollywood has failed or you’ve stepped on human poop and there’s a crazy, naked drug addict in front of your kids at the park. I’m not going to let this happen anymore.
You don’t have government experience. Why do you think you can still succeed?
Here in L.A., yeah, the government experience we’re living under is an actual living nightmare. Their experience literally burns down 7,000 houses, burns people alive and gives 70,000 drug addicts needles and pipes and tourniquets, and lets them OD on the street. Anybody that’s voting for me already lives under their failures of government experience.
You were a political science major in college. Do you have any other qualifications?
My No. 1 qualification is I’m not corrupt. I have humility in that I know that I’ve never run a city, so I’m going to put a team around me of the smartest, most talented people. We need to bring in people who aren’t just bureaucratic city-entrenched people. We need people from the private sector who are running major corporations with bigger budgets to advise and help us become a more profitable city. My biggest skill is being an actual outsider.
How so?
The main [reason my candidacy] is surging is that I’m just [using] common sense. As mayor, I will make sure we enforce the laws that exist — I don’t need experience to say to my new police chief, “We’re enforcing the laws now.” That’s why people are voting for me.
What’s been the most challenging aspect of this?
Not seeing my kids. I was a really hands-on dad. Heidi and I would take them to school in the morning and pick them up [and go to] soccer practices and games. Not being with them anymore has been difficult.
How do you explain to your kids what you’re doing?
I keep telling them I want to save [human] lives and animal lives, and that as mayor, I’ll be able to make it so people don’t die on the streets and dogs aren’t being abused. I keep it very real with them, saying, “Your dad’s trying to make it so people’s houses don’t burn down.”
Are there misconceptions about you because of your reality TV past?
I’m not trying to convert anybody who’s caught up in believing reality TV is real. My friends involved in the process knew the personality I created on The Hills was strategic [and that I was] in cahoots with the producers. At times, [things] obviously got more emotional and exaggerated, because even fake reality TV feels real sometimes, but it was always strategic. When I was 20, I was the youngest person to ever sell a network television show [E!’s Princes of Malibu]. I planned on being behind the scenes, but things moved in a different direction. I have the most successful online crystal jewelry business in the world that I started off of Snapchat. I’m not trying to tell anybody that I’m a super genius or the best business person. What I have is heart, I’m authentic and I care.
Is it difficult to separate yourself from your reputation as a villain?
That was 20 years ago. I have [kids], and I’ve been married almost 20 years. These are two different lifetimes. The Spencer who lost everything and [is] starting at zero is not the Spencer who was trying to make millions of dollars and be ridiculous on television. There’s no connection [between] those two human beings anymore.
Any regrets about your reality-TV past?
No. Life’s all about learning. I met my wife on reality TV. For that alone, I wouldn’t change anything. I would much rather not have been [like Mayor Bass] training as a communist in Cuba than being a villain on a reality television show and on the best TV network at the time. [Mayor Bass traveled to Cuba for the first time in 1973 with the Venceremos Brigade, a joint venture of Fidel Castro’s government and the U.S. group Students for a Democratic Society.]
Does your celebrity status have anything to do with your popularity?
I’m not a celebrity, you know. Until they started calling me a celebrity, I was a [former] reality star before I started running. But now to attack me, they’re trying to stay on this button. The show I was famous for was from 2009. That’s a long time ago. People are voting for me because I’m the mandate for change, not because I was on a show or sold crystals. If we had some competent, experienced people [running], I wouldn’t be leading the race right now.
There were some rumors you were filming a new reality show based on your run.
I had a show before any of this with Hulu [but] the last time I had a camera behind me was over a year ago. I’ve made it very clear to anybody who has reached out that my campaign is my priority.
It’s also been reported that you are living in Hotel Bel-Air, not your airstream on your property…
That airstream is the only thing I have connected to a house in my name, and I paid for it with a disaster loan. I temporarily sleep in Santa Barbara when I’m with my family. Three nights is the most I’ve slept at a hotel, because obviously I have to go see my kids and my family. My home is not Santa Barbara, my home is not the Hotel Bel-Air. My home is the Pacific Palisades.
What do you say to people who think you’re running for personal gain versus public service?
I’m signing up to fight demons every day. This is the most insane job and sacrifice, not to mention I’m not going to see my family nearly as much as I would just selling crystals.
Have you had any emotional moments on the campaign trail?
I deal with a lot of crying people. They just want to hug me. It’s heavy because you really feel everyone’s pain.
You vowed to leave L.A. if you lose. Is that true?
I’m not doing this to lose, I’m doing this to win and save the city. My point [was], if I don’t win, L.A. is done, and it’s not going to be livable. It’s going to be out of a dystopian nightmare movie.
Has being famous prepared you for this experience in any way?
The only edge reality TV and fame has given me is to prepare me for the amount of negativity and threats. [In mid-May, Pratt told TMZ he had temporarily moved out of his airstream on his Pacific Palisades property after receiving death threats.] If you’ve already been in the gutter with the internet, [then it’s] just another day.
Do mean online comments ever get to you?
I love all the engagement because they’re helping boost all my algorithms. The trolls went to a new tier when they realized I was going to be the mayor, but they’ve actually helped my [algorithm] so much. I’m very thankful for their comments.
Has it been hard to hear any of the negative feedback?
The hardest is [having] everyone’s hopes and pressure on my shoulders and making sure my message represents everyone.
How do you feel about your detractors?
The people who are against me are in a cult. Anybody that’s posting against me is actually crazy because I’m running on making [sure] drug addicts aren’t dying seven times a day in the streets, making sure the fire department has the resources so towns don’t burn down, making sure the police have enough officers to respond to home invasions. I’m the one [asking for] the most logical, basic qualities of life that we should demand as taxpayers and citizens. People who have attacked me for my past, they’re gone… Good luck to these people. I hope they don’t get machete’d on the sidewalk before I get elected.
Going back to your safety, how are you dealing with the death threats?
I’m upping my security. I have a lot of legendary former LAPD officers. You’re not going to scare me out of fighting evil at this point in my life.
Have you thought about getting out of the entertainment industry?
There’s no industry for reality television right now because of the current leadership in [L.A.]. My actual business is selling crystals, and I will continue selling my beautiful gemstones forever. I love it. It’s my favorite thing.
There’s been online chatter casting you as a “MAGA guy.” Is that true?
I’m not either party. I’m a centrist; my party is common sense. All of my supporters in L.A. are Democrats. Everything I say is nonpartisan. Spencer Pratt is Spencer Pratt, and he represents all of Los Angeles.
You’ve gotten a lot of public support. Have you received any private endorsements?
Usually I don’t name-drop, but I had two of my favorite people ever support me. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx both said, “Please, Mr. Mayor, we want these streets safe again.” If their reps try to deny this happened, I have multiple witnesses. It was an out-of-body experience. [Us understands DiCaprio has not publicly or privately endorsed Pratt.]
How do you feel about being endorsed by big names?
The only endorsements I seek, which I have, are moms in Los Angeles, animal lovers and one that I just got, the Latino Business Association, which are 800,000 Latino businesses that Mayor Bass has failed.
Have you lost any famous friends over going into politics?
I had a small circle. I wasn’t part of the industry for a long time; I’ve had my small business and being a family guy.
Have you gotten any advice or guidance from anyone as you campaign?
I’ve definitely been praying the most I’ve prayed in my whole life to stay locked in with the Holy Spirit. I called my lawyer, who’s representing all the fire victims before the debate, and said, “How do you stay calm when you’re dealing with liars?” And he said, “Spencer, I always [remember] I have the truth on my side.”
How does the rest of your family feel about this undertaking?
My mom and dad are still struggling; they’ve lost everything, so they’re just keeping it together. My sister [Stephanie] goes back and forth, and I obviously pray for her. [In February, Stephanie spoke out against Pratt’s mayoral campaign on X, writing in part, “He doesn’t belong in the government.”] My older sister [Kristin] is very supportive. Family will always be family [with] ups and downs. I’m doing this for my own soul and spirit.
What does Heidi’s support look like on a day-to-day basis?
She’s an angel superhero. She’s working hard, putting out new music and paying for our kids’ food and being the woman boss who pays the bills while also being the full-time mom and prayer warrior.
Has she given you pushback on any of your messaging?
No… [But] she doesn’t like people being able to spread lies [or take] things out of context, so she’s very defensive on my behalf.
What would she be like as First Lady?
I don’t see her coming to L.A. much because the kids had to get into a new school, and she’s not going to want to take them out. She may pop up every now and again for something, but again, she pays our bills right now that I’m a public servant. I’m going to really just be in these trenches fighting these corrupt city council members, and whoever I have to, to just make sure everyone’s safe.
How do you relax with everything going on?
My favorite pleasure is clapping back on X with the truth. I get such dopamine from it. Heidi suggested that I put my phone down an hour before bed, but I told her that’s not possible.
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