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Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt ‘mock TV strikes’ while asking for work

The pair appear to dismiss calls from other reality stars to unionise

Kate Ng
Thursday 17 August 2023 15:04 BST
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Spencer and Heidi Montag tell network bosses they're not on strike with other reality stars

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have made it clear they are not in favour of reality TV stars going on strike, amid rising calls for them to join the ongoing Hollywood writers and actors strike.

The couple, who rose to fame on MTV’s The Hills, shared a video on TikTok seemingly mocking reality stars who might be thinking of joining the strike action.

The video, posted on Pratt’s account, showed the pair standing side by side and Pratt starting the clip by saying: “Breaking news, there’s been some miscommunication out there on the internet that Heidi and I were involved in the reality TV strike.”

Montag chimed in and said: “We’re just unemployed.”

Pratt clarified that he and Montag were willing to “go on any show, any network”, adding: “You can treat us however you like. You can get us drunk, put us in hot rooms with no air conditioning. We’ve been in lots of them.”

They appeared to distance themselves from other reality stars, some of whom have highlighted unfair conditions they have had to endure while filming their shows. Montag described uncomfortable filming scenarios as “just kind of the territory”.

Pratt continued: “To all networks out there, we’re available right now. We have nothing to do with any of these striking reality television characters… Anything people are complaining about, we love it. Bring it on.”

It comes after Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel accused Bravo of “covering up” abuse and exploitation of reality show cast members.

The 52-year-old said in an episode of her Just B podcast, released on Tuesday 15 August, Frankel explained that she was pushing for reality stars to unionise “because of exploitation without compensation”.

She claimed that an offhand comment she made about the topic led to a “big Hollywood bigwig giving me the name of a lawyer to try to get a response on those terms, which evolved into probably over a hundred reality stars reaching out to me about them being violated, abused and exploited”.

“It evolved into a lawsuit from many of the Bravo talent exposing practices that I did not realise Bravo was complicit in,” Frankel continued.

The Independent has contacted Bravo for comment.

Hollywood ground to a halt in mid-July when the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced it would join colleagues in the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in striking for fair wages. The latter has been striking since May.

The acting union’s strike, comprising more than 150,000 TV and film stars, has been ongoing. It is the first time since 1960 that both actors and writers have picketed film and television production companies.

Montag and Pratt have been married since 2008 and share two children. They have also made appearances in Celebrity Big Brother UK, Marriage Boot Camp, and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

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