Spencer Pratt Claims He Convinced Brody Jenner to Dump Nicole Richie for 'Hills' Showmance with Lauren Conrad

Spencer Pratt is dropping another bit of behind-the-scenes intel about his time on The Hills — specifically the time he tried to split up Brody Jenner and then-girlfriend Nicole Richie so The Hills' Lauren "LC" Conrad would have a suitable onscreen love interest.

When Pratt first met Conrad — who had moved to Los Angeles to lead The Hills, which MTV had spun off of Laguna Beach — he thought she was a "nice girl," he shared on Wednesday's episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast.

"It was all good, to the point where I talked Brody into breaking up with Nicole Richie to fake double-date with LC," he dished.

Before Conrad, 36, famously fell out with Pratt, 38, and his wife Heidi Montag, 35, on the show, he was optimistic about where his and Conrad's combined savvy and star power could take them.

"That's the level of how I felt about her," he said. "[It was] like, 'Let me help make your life better by bringing the best-looking guy in Hollywood right now, who all the girls want to date — I'll get him to break up with his celebrity, superstar girlfriend. I will get him to come on your show, pretend to be your interest … everyone wins.'"

Pratt said he "was already in the game with the paparazzi" from having pitched and produced Princes of Malibu (which also starred Jenner, now 38), so he arranged for photographers to capture the double date.

To his surprise, Conrad was not happy the date would be publicized. "So that was when I was like, 'Oh, you're not all there ... don't have a full deck running here as you're trying to be on your second television show,'" said Pratt.

Looking back even now, he finds her response confusing.

"I just watched a season 2 episode," he said. "LC knew [about fame], because if you look at her on the couch, she has every tabloid on her lap. That's what she's reading."

He said, "I'm all for people who don't want to be famous, but, like, you're a second show, like you spun off. ... You are choosing the path of fame."

He added, "So don't be mad at me, girl."

Though viewers shipped the couple for several seasons, Pratt said his plans for his friends "didn't work out from night one" and added that "eventually Brody couldn't pretend anymore." (For her part, Conrad has also said for years she had "zero chemistry" with Jenner.)

Pratt still believes the central problem was that Conrad "didn't understand, like, I was ahead of this game. I already saw this worked on a way bigger scale because I'm not from Laguna Beach, I'm from [Los Angeles]."

He added that he's long been on "a black belt level" when it comes to courting fame and publicity.

"All due respect to LC," he said, "she'd never been in a tabloid until I unlocked that for her."

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All six seasons of The Hills are now streaming on Hulu.