Before Kim Kardashian, before Snooki or Molly-Mae, there was Heidi Montag. When we first met the reality star on screen, in MTV’s The Hills, it was 2006 and a generically sunny day in Los Angeles. The 20-year-old bleach-blonde sunbathed by a sprawling pool, pretending to read a weekly fashion magazine from behind giant black sunglasses. She lit up with excitement upon spotting Lauren Conrad – her then best friend – for the cameras of the reality phenomenon that chronicled their attempt to make it in the glamorous city.
At the time, reality TV was already home to the rebellious sprog of the rich and famous: Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Kelly Osbourne. But Montag represented something new: an ordinary girl given an extraordinary platform. She was filmed shopping, drinking, scrapping, and dating within Hollywood’s most coveted circle of early twentysomethings, one of the first truly homegrown reality TV stars.
