Interest in Spencer Pratt has surged online after past comments about how he and his wife spent their fortune ahead of the supposed 2012 apocalypse resurfaced during his campaign for mayor of Los Angeles.
Pratt, 42, is currently polling in second place in the city’s mayoral race, trailing incumbent Karen Bass by only a small margin with the primary election approaching in two weeks.
The former The Hills star launched his campaign in January, roughly a year after wildfires destroyed his family’s home in Pacific Palisades.
Several celebrities have publicly backed his campaign, including Paris Hilton, Rob Schneider, and Taylor Lautner.
At the same time, old interviews discussing Pratt’s spending habits before December 21, 2012 have reappeared online.
In a 2013 interview, Pratt said he and his wife, Heidi Montag, believed predictions connected to the Mayan calendar that claimed the world would end in 2012.
During the height of their reality television fame, Pratt reportedly earned $175,000 for each episode of The Hills, while the couple also brought in about $2 million annually through appearances and promotional work.
Explaining their mindset at the time, Pratt said they believed they needed to use their money before an asteroid or global catastrophe arrived.
He later joked that spending money because of fears about an apocalypse was a mistake, noting that the world ultimately did not end.
According to Pratt, the couple poured large amounts of cash into luxury purchases and security measures.
Those expenses reportedly included an armored vehicle, crystals valued at nearly $1 million, nightly security costs reaching $15,000, and expensive gifts for friends.
Pratt also said they routinely tipped doormen and valets $200 at a time because they wanted to quickly drain their bank accounts.
The pair additionally took shopping trips costing around $30,000 and purchased bottles of wine priced at $4,000 each.
As Pratt’s political campaign has gained traction, social media users have revisited those stories and criticized the spending.
One commenter on X described the stockpiling of luxury goods as absurd, while another argued that city leadership should be handled by more serious candidates.
A third user mocked the couple’s crystal purchases and questioned whether reality television figures should hold major government positions.
