In 2013, millions watched as Heidi Montag and her husband Spencer Pratt were booed out of the Celebrity Big Brother house, despite finishing as runners-up to Rylan Clark. When they returned to the show in 2017, they fared better, but still received a mixed response.
Fast-forward almost a decade and Heidi has made a triumphant return to the UK. heat witnessed firsthand the screaming crowd who flocked to the main stage of Mighty Hoopla – the country’s biggest pop music festival – to see the 38 year old perform tracks from her 2010 album Superficial and long-awaited follow-up Heidiwood.
Though she is now on a career high, the year got off to a tough start for Heidi and Spencer, 41, who shot to fame on The Hills in 2006. The couple – who tied the knot in 2008, and share sons Gunner, seven, and Ryker, two – lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires in January, documenting their devastation on TikTok.
It was from this renewed social media presence that fans started to download and stream Heidi’s debut album, sending it into the charts for the first time ever. Here, Heidi tells heat how her loyal followers kept her spirits up in the dark times and her plans for even more music…
Welcome back to the UK! How did you find performing at Mighty Hoopla?
Performing at Mighty Hoopla was such a pinch-me moment. It was my biggest music festival to date, with 60,000 people in the crowd. The energy and enthusiasm were electric, and it’s something I’ll never forget. I wish I could go back and relive the moment.
Did you notice a difference between UK and US crowds?
London has such a special place in my heart, as the music and creative scenes are unmatched. I love the British crowd. Even when we did Big Brother, the energy was so exciting and fun. Hoopla was the perfect crowd that gets music and everything I represent. I saw Kelly Rowland [who headlined the festival in 2023] a few days before I performed and asked for tips, and she told me that it is the best crowd in the entire world.
It’s been 20 years since you first found fame through Laguna Beach and The Hills. How does it feel to still be so loved?
You know, I really thought I’d be Kim Kardashian by now! But I am so thankful for all the success and where we are now, and the love that we have received and the experiences that we have had. I feel like this is the beginning of a new era and I’m excited to see how it all plays out. I really appreciate the path we’ve been on. I was waiting tables and working two jobs, so I’m just thankful. I was from a small town in Colorado from humble beginnings. I found the love of my life, which is priceless, and we’ve been together for 18 years. We have two beautiful boys. So, you know, we’re healthy in life – I think that’s really winning the lottery. There’s not more success than that.
UK audiences will remember you and Spencer from Celebrity Big Brother. Have you kept in contact with any of your British celebrity housemates?
Frankie Dettori – we have definitely talked with him a few times. And Nicola McLean. I love her. I’ve seen her a few times. We saw Rylan last time we were in the UK, which was great. I know Spencer sometimes talks to Jedward. Shimmy Jimmy [James Jordan], we love him, he’s unbelievable. He was Spencer’s best friend in the house.
Your new album Heidiwood is out now…
I’m so excited. It’s a labour of love I’ve been working on for the past year. I’m excited people are able to immerse themselves in this fun, sexy, fantasy escapism world, especially right now with so much going on. I think it’s the album people have been looking for and the one I’ve been wanting to create.
Do you feel vindicated that your debut album Superficial is finally getting recognition 15 years on?
Yes! It is so incredible to have such an appreciation for this album, especially with the younger generation. They really resonate with it. My top listeners are 18 to 24, so it really is the younger generation that loves the album. So many producers and songwriters that I’ve worked with say it’s their Bible for music. I just thought it was my album that I loved and appreciated – I didn’t know there was this whole underground world that had been built around it and continues to be.
It came out just after you underwent your mammoth 10 cosmetic surgeries. Do you regret the rollout now?
In hindsight, I do wish the timing had been different. I wasn’t really given a choice when I could have the surgery and with how everything was going, it was kind of a now-or-never situation. Or that’s how it felt at the time. It definitely overshadowed this project that we had been working on for two years. We had spent so much time and energy on it, and I wasn’t able to promote it properly. It always is one of those ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’ things.
We loved the bob you rocked to the American Music Awards. Do you still enjoy switching up your look?
Yeah, I’ve always played it on the safer side, and I feel like one of the most incredible parts of being a pop star that I love so much is being able to diversify your look and to be able to be a little more characteristic. I’ve always really appreciated that about Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan and all these other musicians who, as Beyoncé says, step into their Sasha Fierce. It was really fun to be able to be at the AMAs, which is such a music industry event, and to be able to have a different look as a pop star and to be there as a singer.
Spencer features on Body Language on Superficial – would you collaborate on music together again?
I think that was his ‘one and done’. I always say what a great job he did. You never know, but as of right now, no.
Do you have any dream collaborators?
Zara Larsson, I would love to collaborate with her. I think she’s incredible. Nova May is a great up-and-coming artist. I did a song with 6arelyhuman called 5G, that was incredible. But Zara is one of the top people I would love to collab with.
Would you like to duet with Rylan?
Yes! Rylan, we should do a duet! We should call it Big Brother Baddies or something. That’d be so good.
The rediscovery of your music career has come from something really tragic. People were downloading and streaming to help you raise funds after the wildfires. It must have been a bittersweet time…
Yeah, it was really challenging and interesting. The music really started picking up a year before, so I was feeling the initial momentum and then it definitely went to another level after the fires, and it was hard to fully grasp everything that was going on. It’s very tough dealing with all the hardship of the loss and relocating my children and moving towns – getting them enrolled in school, making sure we have clothes and toothbrushes, trying to figure out and wrap my head around where we’re going to be, what we’re going to do, paying rent, dealing with insurance and the lack of insurance. It just was really overwhelming. And then Spencer’s there working 24 hours a day on his phone and being able to rally the world behind us with the music and streaming. And so, every video, every stream just meant so much. It’s just unbelievable the amount of love and support everyone was able to give us through the music and making Superficial number one in so many places in the world. It is definitely the blessing in disguise and giving us hope to be able to rebuild.
You channel that in No Going Home, which reveals a tender side to you that people might not be as used to. Why was it important to share that?
It was a really important outlet for me to be able to share my heart and my soul and a part of what we’ve been going through. I feel like there’s nothing that can explain how people feel in the world like music, that’s why it’s so powerful. It really can touch different parts of your spirit and your soul and your body. I wanted to be able to translate it somehow and it was very therapeutic for me. Still when it comes on, I start crying. I just feel like also, being in the entertainment industry, we’ve just always told the story and what we’re going through and that’s the deepest way I could figure out how.
Do your sons have any favourite songs?
Gunner loves Tetris. That’s one of his favourites. And actually, he loves One More Drink. You know, it could be about apple juice! My little one, who doesn’t really understand any lyrics, loves all of them. He’s like, ‘More Mama songs!’
Do they understand the concept that their parents are famous and mummy is a pop star?
Yeah, I say to my little one, ‘What does Mama do for work?’ And he goes, ‘Dance and sings.’ It’s perfect. That’s exactly what I do.
Would you consider a return to reality TV? Maybe you and Spencer could have your own show…
I’m very much on this path with my music, but I love reality TV, and I’m sure that it will be in our future somewhere. The thing with reality TV is it becomes really derailing of your other life and worlds and success. And I feel like if you want to be really great at something, you’ve got to do one thing. It’s hard to be great at a lot of things spread thin. I really want to focus on the music and having my biggest dream – which has always been being a pop star – transpire.
Heidi’s new album Heidiwood is available to download and stream now.
