| Reality Check: Audrina of The Hills |
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| Written by Jillian Gordon | |
| Friday, October 26 2007 | |
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SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW OUR EXCLUSIVE 'BEHIND-THE-SCENES' VIDEO! If you aren’t familiar with the MTV hit reality show The Hills, chances are you’ve been living under a rock for quite some time. Halfway through its third and perhaps most explosive season yet, the show’s ratings are soaring as the drama continues to unfold. Last season ended with best friends and roommates Heidi Montag and Lauren Conrad parting ways as Montag moved in with her boyfriend turned fiancé Spencer Pratt, thus ending a long-term friendship between the two girls. Sad, yes, but as cast member Audrina Patridge points out, the show must go on. Now Patridge has stepped into the spotlight as Lauren's roommate and has become one of the breakout stars of the new season. But as fans continue to delight in the cast members’ luxurious lifestyles, relationship dilemmas, and scandalous catfights, many forget that their weekly dose of the gossipy guilty pleasure is someone’s 'reality.’ Now, for the first time, Patridge speaks out about the ups and downs of having her personal life broadcast as a topic of public speculation...and what's really up with her and Justin Bobby. Cheerfully entering our photo shoot at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd., Patridge is all smiles. It’s hard to imagine that she spends up to five days a week with a camera crew following her every move and the rest of her time sending the gossip blogs into a frenzy. Between hair and makeup, Patridge takes a moment to dish up the reality behind the reality and how her life has changed drastically in just the last few months. “First and second season, I lived in my own apartment, and I kind of liked that because I had my own personal space and privacy,” Patridge explains. “Now, living with Lauren, we film a lot more and everything I do or want do is known so it’s harder, but I’ve adjusted.” Breaking into LC’s clique, however, was not quite as easy as Patridge, an Epic Records employee, learned her interests and lifestyle didn’t initially match up to that of her new castmates. “It was really weird because I had all my friends already so I was trying to become friends with these new people and trying to accept their friends and accept what they do. They weren’t really into music. They were totally girly girls. So it was kind of hard adjusting,” she recounts. Patridge confesses that she and Conrad were barely even acquaintances when the show debuted. “First season, I didn’t know Lauren. She was always with Jason and she really didn’t talk to me at all. We weren’t friends at all. Heidi was the friendly, fun, crazy one and we got along well.” Like Conrad, Patridge’s relationship with Montag has since soured as her friendship with her new roommate has grown. Montag’s controversial relationship with Pratt, a character many find loathsome and domineering, seems to be the source of the tension between Montag and her fellow castmates. “She [Montag] was very free spirited before and fun and easy going and now she just… I don't know… sometimes Hollywood changes people,” says Patridge. Still irked by last season’s portrayal of Patridge and Pratt as a romantic item, Patridge sets the record straight once and for all. “He [Pratt] was trying to use me to get Heidi jealous. There was nothing ever between us.” Patridge explains that she now has pretty much nothing to do with the couple and is perfectly content to keep it that way. “I don’t even have her [Montag’s] number anymore. I don’t see them out, and I only hear about them from magazines and on the show.” Still, Patridge can’t help but admit that passing judgment on the couple might be a bit hypocritical since she herself is under constant public scrutiny as a reality star. “I know she really did or does love Spencer,” she says, “so it’s hard from an outside point of view judging them so much because you can’t help how you feel, and if there’s chemistry, there’s chemistry. You can’t change that. If they’re happy, that’s cool, but I’m just over talking crap about them all the time.” Perhaps Patridge’s newfound clarity on the situation stems from choosing to disclose her own love life as a main plotline for the new season, a decision Patridge now hugely regrets. Season three brought off and on boyfriend 'Justin Bobby' (as the show has now nicknamed him) to the forefront, inspiring fans everywhere to weigh in on Patridge’s taste in boyfriends. Patridge explains her boyfriend’s less than swoon-worthy first impression was largely due to the presence of a camera crew that accompanies the couple’s every move. “He hates the cameras. He’ll give it a try, but he’s very uncomfortable with the cameras and reality TV in general and he doesn’t act himself,” she says. And in case you were wondering, “His name is Justin. His middle name is Robert, and his friends call him ‘Bobby.’” Patridge explains that the stress of the show has been a major hurdle for the couple to overcome. Anyone would agree that relationships are hard enough without plotlines and ratings riding on them. “I don’t like to force things and with doing this show, they like things to happen pretty quickly,” Patridge confesses. “If I really like someone, I’d rather just keep him off TV and keep it personal,” she says. “There are some things that are just not meant to be known to the world.” Relationship drama and catfights aside, Patridge says she really can’t complain. The show’s success has afforded her some incredible opportunities and might even help her achieve her original dream of one day becoming an actress in Hollywood. According to Patridge, being in front of the cameras on a regular basis does have its perks. “It’s almost like a good acting class because the cameras are there and you have to learn how to be comfortable in front of them and be yourself.” The show has also introduced Patridge to some influential movers and shakers that may one day help her do anything from starting her own makeup line to launching a singing career (that’s right, singing!). Right now, though, Patridge is focused on her commitment to the show and ensuring even more fireworks for devoted fans, anxious for their water cooler gossip. Patridge assures us the season will continue to keep viewers on their toes. “There’s a lot that we haven’t filmed yet,” she says with a coy smile. Stay tuned… Photography: Bobby Quillard Clothing provided by: Nicola Bertti Hair Stylist: Isabel Hseih Makeup Artist: Mary Kula Location: House of Blues, Sunset Blvd. LA Comments
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written by mary , March 17, 2008
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written by Mary , March 15, 2008
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written by jeff , March 05, 2008
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