Spencer Pratt claims Kim Kardashian got famous from copying his ‘paparazzi set-up’ strategy

Spencer Pratt is claiming that Kim Kardashian and her famous family copied him and his wife Heidi Montag’s ‘paparazzi set-up’ strategy to catapult themselves to fame.

‘I know for a fact that they copied our paparazzi set-up deal with the same agency we worked with, obviously they won’t say that but I can say that,’ alleged The Hills star, 37, in an interview with The Sun published Wednesday. 

He added: ‘They have the same partnership, they probably had a better end deal but whatever.’

Explaining the strategy, Heidi said she and Spencer made it a priority to have even their dullest moments turned into headline worthy photos, while others left being captured by the paparazzi up to chance. 

‘I think without paparazzi styled like our setups were, and what we would do in the beach bikini photos… Other people will go out to the beach, they wouldn’t set it up and work with the photographer,’ she told the outlet.

Heidi went on to praise the Kardashian-Jenner clan for allegedly ’emulating’ the blueprint they laid out, adding that it was a ‘very smart’ move for the family.

‘So I do think a lot of that blueprint they emulated, which was very smart and that was kind of the standard that we set for the industry and I feel like people still do that.’

Heidi claimed that her sister had once spoken to Kim’s eldest sister Kourtney Kardashian about arranging paparazzi set-ups before KUWTK fame. 

‘But I do remember a conversation that [Kim’s sister] Kourtney had with my sister and she’s like: “What does Heidi do with paparazzi? Scott and I are trying to do the same thing,”‘ she recalled.

Although the couple have given themselves credit for ‘setting the standard’ when it comes to using the paparazzi to one’s advantage, Spencer stressed to The Sun that Paris Hilton was undoubtedly the force that inspired most – if not all – aspiring reality stars and socialites.

Prior to becoming one of the most famous women in the world, Kim was Paris’ personal assistant/stylist for many years, prior to the premiere of Keeping Up With The Kardashians in 2007.

‘Kim owes it to Paris. Maybe Kim learned a lot from us, and Kim was around us a lot, but I feel like Kris Jenner, even if Speidi didn’t come along, would have had that whole family, rich and famous and successful regardless,’ he said.

Although Kim is said to have had plenty of people in her corner, Heidi made sure to take a moment to praise the KKW Beauty founder for her incomparable work ethic, which solidified her superstar status. 

The 34-year-old claimed that Kardashian would go to ‘multiple events in one night’ completely sober, just to get her name and face out there.

‘They used to say Kim would go to the opening of an envelope, literally she would do multiple events in one night, sober, and know everybody’s name and do everything like she was a machine,’ Montag recalled.

‘From the moment I met her, too. So definitely, Kim was going to be successful one way or another.’

Agreeing with his wife, Spencer added: ‘I used to literally say it was either opening an envelope or she’d be at the opening of a drawer.’

He admitted that Kim’s dedication to achieving fame and success often inspired him to ‘hustle’ in the industry.

‘I was always thinking like: “I gotta hustle”, and I was looking at Kim like: “If we worked as hard as Kim…” and this is before she was even famous!

‘[Kim] was at events that I felt like we were too good for – now give me a time machine, I would have been anywhere for that red carpet and camera like she did.’

Even though some of their own tactics may have been used by the Kardashian-Jenner family, Spencer and Heidi insist that they have nothing but respect for the family’s meteoric rise to fame. 

‘Anyone who is famous has earned it. It’s so hard to be famous is what I’ve learned over 15 years of continually try to be 15 minutes of famous,’ said Pratt. 

Spencer and Heidi are set to return to television screens, themselves, this Wednesday evening in the highly-anticipated second season of The Hills reboot on MTV.

The Hills: New Beginnings, which premiered its first season in 2019, reunites the likes of Kristin Cavallari, Ashley Wahler, Brandon Thomas Lee, Brody Jenner, Justin ‘Bobby’ Brescia, and Kaitlynn Carter.

During their interview with The Sun, Spencer and Heidi recalled their time filming season 2 with their costars, who the blasted as being ‘whiny, fake nightmares’ to work with.

‘What I keep hearing all the cast saying about themselves is that they were the most vulnerable ever, and this is the realest they’ve ever been, which I find entertaining because I felt like there was so much fakeness,’ Heidi told the outlet.

‘So I hope it comes off as people pretending to be real that are really fake, if that makes sense. Yeah, cos I was like, when they’re all talking about being so real, I was like ‘you are the fakest person I’ve ever met in my life.’

Not naming names, Spencer, agreeing with Heidi’s account, added: ‘Yeah maybe that’s what they meant they were real, they were really at that house, or they really ate that lunch.’

Pratt said the cast’s day-to-day activities were ‘real,’ but he felt like people interacting with me personally was very fake throughout the year, which I will definitely be commenting on in my testimonials.’

He went as far as to say that season two is ‘so explosive’ that he doubts the cast will be able to work with one another again for a third season.

‘I don’t imagine how we’d be able to film the season three. I don’t think there’s too much liking each other anymore,’ Spencer concluded.

The Hills originally began as a spin-off of the hit MTV series Laguna Beach, premiering on the network in 2006.

It centered around ‘several young adults living in Los Angeles,’ with a special focus on series favorites Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port.

Spencer did not become a part of the drama-filled series until 2007 when he started dating Montag, which would go on to cause a rift between Heidi and her then-BFF Lauren. 

Since connecting in 2007, Heidi and Spencer went on to tie the knot in 2008 and welcomed their first and only child, son Gunner, now three.