Just how real reality shows are has been a hot subject of debate in recent times, and earlier this season, another popular non-scripted series came under attack. 

Reports that MTV's reality series, The Hills, is fake sprouted when executive producer Adam Divello told TV Guide that the way Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag, two of the show's stars who went from being best friends to archenemies, ended up in the same nightclub on the same night was no accident. Speculations grew when Montag's fiancé, Spencer Pratt, dropped her off the airport, only to pick her up again later in the day, leading many to assume the airport pick-up scene filmed for the series is indeed staged.

In response to the speculation, Hills costar Audrina Patridge told People magazine early last week that as far as she's concerned, the series is not at all scripted.

"Everything is real," Patridge, 22, told the magazine while at Hpnotiq's Hollywood Halloween Party at Les Deux.  "[Lauren Conrad] and me are real friends.  We live in our apartment.  That's real, like where we work, everything.  The situations are real."

Patridge admitted that there are times producers instruct them on where to go, but insists that what transpires in those places is not orchestrated.

"I mean, [the producers] might be kinda like, 'Okay, we want you to go to Les Deux tonight,' so we go and whatever happens, happens," she told People. "And they might do things to tweak it a little bit, but our reactions... it's totally real. It's reality."

Despite Audrina Patridge's claims, one is still left questioning the truthfulness of The Hills, especially when Patridge herself would not have been reunited with her current boyfriend, Justin Brescia, had it not been for the show.

"When producers encouraged [Patridge] to start dating again for the show, she called Justin," a “pal” told In Touch Weekly.  "But it's not about the show anymore."

Echoing Audrina Patridge's statements, Lauren Conrad said that while the producers tend to “hype up” the drama on The Hills, all of the show's cast members are portrayed truthfully.

"At the end of the day, you can edit all you want, but you said and did everything that's on the show," Conrad told In Touch.  "If you're a nice person, you're going to look like a nice person.  If you're a mean person, you're gonna look mean."


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: realitytvworld.com
(Image Courtesy of MTV)