andPOP » hills

andPOP Interviews The Newest Hills Cast Member Doug Reinhardt

andPOP Staff — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:02:10 +0000

When watching The Hills, you think you have a pretty good idea of who each character is and what makes them tick.

You think.

While we only see the heavily edited down version of literally hundreds of hours of footage, the characters are sometimes shown as spoiled brats.

Doug Reinhardt, the newest addition to the cast, has been in several episodes this season as Lauren Conrad’s love interest and frat boy friend of Brody Jenner.

In one episode, Reinhardt is partying with the gang in Cabo and flies in a herd of beautiful woman for Brody’s birthday. He’s in a pool with a bunch of girls rubbing up against him. After watching that, you think you get this guy. Reality TV can be very entertaining but also very deceiving.

Reinhardt is portrayed as a sweet and charming guy who loves to party and have fun. There’s nothing wrong with that. But did you know he’s a professional athlete, Political Science major, owns his own successful cell phone company and is a sincere, honest and humble guy?

Reinhardt, who sat down with andPOP recently while hosting a party at Tila Tequila bar in Ottawa, is extremely thankful for the opportunities he has been given and doesn’t take anything for granted.

Reinhardt grew up in Laguna Beach, and briefly dated Conrad in high school before being drafted, at 18, by the Anaheim Angels. The two lost contact with Reinhardt focusing on ball, and LC busy with MTV and fashion.

Several years later, a week before spring training, Reinhardt hurt his knee. “I took classes at Pepperdine University every off-season in Malibu. I decided it would be a perfect time to dedicate myself to school and finish my degree,” he tells andPOP.

The two ran into each other and hit it off again.

“The Hills literally fell in my lap. I was having a drink with my buddies and all of a sudden I saw Lauren, and we start hanging out again. After about a month, The Hills approached me and asked if I don’t mind being filmed. At first I was a little hesitant ’cause of baseball. But I was like, it’s a fun thing to do – I’m hurt, I’m going to school, let’s do it.”

Reinhardt never even saw an episode of the show before he became one of the show’s stars.

“I had to catch up on previous seasons!”

“They work around all our schedules and set up times to get together and that’s it for me. They follow Lauren around a little more. But The Hills is drama – they love the drama – they feed off of the drama. 95% of the stuff is not aired that they film. They take little bits and pieces. We film all day and all night and they use a five or ten-second clip.”

He’s made great friends thanks to the series. “I met Brody through Lauren. Frank [Delgado], Brody and I hit if off. When Lauren and I broke up, we kept hanging out. They’re good and fun guys. We kinda feed off of each other.”

Has Lauren or others from the show changed? “Here’s the thing. Judging from what I’ve seen it’s hard to be the level that Lauren, Heidi [Montag] and Audrina [Patridge] are at. People start pulling at you from all sides. Of course you’re going to change. You’re only human; you’re a celebrity. Paparazzi are following you around all day and yes you are going to change but not in a bad way.

“I’ve changed. I’m smarter about things. You don’t want to put yourself in a bad situation. I’m still friends with all my friends. I never say no to a picture, always answer questions, but sometimes people like to take advantage of that, but for the most part it’s cool. Everyone changes a little bit. You just adapt to your surroundings.”

Just in case he needs to be balanced, he’s got a supportive family. “They think it’s pretty funny – but they were giving some grief about the Cabo episode! But it’s an honour; it’s a blessing, and I can’t believe it happened to me. Little old me. Baseball has been my whole life. It’s what I worked my whole life for. I get to play professional baseball and that’s a blessing too.”

Reinhardt is also co-founder and CEO of FUGEN Mobile (fugenmobile.com). “We do mobile advertising and marketing, ringtones, graphic, jokes, and more, on cell phones in America. I started with a friend when I was 19 out of my garage.” Now their clients include Sony, the L.A. Raiders and Cirque du Soleil.

His entrepreneurship tip is to never take no for an answer. “If you have an idea, pursue it and follow it, research it, from the ground up. When I started there was nothing. Jamster had just come out when we started. You could get a ring tone from the TV, and that’s how we got the idea for this type of business. It’s more like jokes, horoscopes, facts and stuff like that. I sat down with my buddy, researched companies, got it going and got set up with all the carriers. I’m the CEO, my best friend is the president, and we have about 20 other employees out of Newport Beach. It’s tough but I count my blessings every day. Keep plugging away – it takes one good thing to happen and it’s a snowball effect.”

In five years from now, he hopes to be playing baseball, have a family and live in California. “At the end of the day, I’m a California guy, born and raised, go to the beach, that’s me.” While he enjoys the beach, his mind is clearly not in the clouds.

Doug’s upcoming appearances:
Saturday Nov 1 – Toronto – Suite 106
Wednesday Nov 5 – Waterloo – The Vault Lounge
Friday Nov 7 – Niagara Falls – Dragonfly
Saturday Nov 8 – Detroit –Plan B, Confidential and Pussy Cat Lounge
Sunday Nov 9 – Vancouver – Social
Monday Nov 10 – Edmonton – Diesel
Tuesday Nov 11 – Calgary – Tantra
Thursday Nov 13 – Winnipeg – Blush

The Hills Recap: Hills Premier Takes on Paris and Creepy Frenchmen!

andPOP Staff — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:20:35 +0000

The anticipated new episode of the third season finally arrived. I hoped the episode would be a bit better than the sad response to Lauren Conrad’s fashion show. And so it was! The juice, the drama, and some creepy French men really took this season to a whole new level. Not to mention the awesome ball gowns and jewelry. If Whitney wants to quit Teen Vogue, can I have her old job?

Subscribe to our Hills podcast!

The episode starts off with Whitney’s and LC’s trip to la ville de l’amour, Paris, for the Crillon Ball. As they get off the plane, their own private chauffeur hands them their itinerary. First option: pick up their gowns for the ball at Alberta Ferretti or pick up shoes for the debutants modeling at the ball. Selfish or selfless? Whitney and LC opt for the dresses, but karma has their way with them and they are too late to pick up the shoes. “I guess we should have picked up the shoes first. I think I’m going to throw up,” Whitney remarks.

But everything does work out for the girls and the next morning, with shoes in hand, they show up at the Crillon Ball Photoshoot. Kimball, the Lisa Love wannabe of Paris, delegates to Whitney and LC. Their glamorous jobs include helping write down everything he says (Whitney) and helping with Models (LC).

All of this isn’t too interesting so of course drama must soon follow. Audrina calls and notifies LC that Brody has a girlfriend. Audrina may not seem like the brightest bulb in the bunch but I decided to give her a break this season. But you don’t call your best friend to tell her the guy she wants has a new gf! “Lets ruin my best friend’s trip to Paris”?! If LC needs a new roommate to look out for her, I’d be more than happy to join the Hills cast.

Did LC regret her decision to go to Paris? If she had stayed, would Brodie have been just another Jason? Oh the suspense of reality TV! But Lauren has more men to deal with: Matthias, the creepy dude from the French band. The band somehow knew Audrina and LC thought it was “nice to know someone in Paris.” So Whitney and her decide to meet up with them for drinks. Didn’t they learn from the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus incident NOT to drink on the job, but Paris makes even Whitney loosen up. They head over to the Eiffel tower, stand in the center and drink champagne.

Next night they all go to a club: Neo. LC doesn’t seem to be missing Brody much when she is surrounded at all sides, on the right Matthias, on the left, Edward, an escort at the ball. Edward was just as weird as Matthias was disturbing. What’s with these French men? Shouldn’t reality TV instill in us a belief in love and romance? If I went to Paris and I had to choose between one of them as my romantic counterparts? Non merci. I was rooting for LC when she kissed Matthias on both cheeks after he repeatedly asked her for a kiss. Just cause she’s American, it doesn’t make her a hoe French man.

Finally, le Bal de Crillon! Lauren ruins her first dress and since she’s famous, gets a second loaned to her that’s even more amazing than the first. The episode tries to put in suspense as LC supposedly only has “15min” to pick up the dress. The dresses of the debutants are just as amazing as her’s. Why couldn’t LC include these gowns in her own fashion line? At the ball, LC and Whitney look on with happy smiles, that is until Kimball has a career talk with Whitney. Cold. Unsmiling. He’s worse than Lisa Love! He forces Whitney to rethink her place at Teen Vogue, and not in an inspirational way. LC doesn’t stay to help a sista out. Instead, she goes out with Matthias when he calls to show her around Paris on her last night. Why work? When in Paris do like the Parisians! Of course going out on a stalker’s vespa all night doesn’t seem like the safest thing in my mind. And boy are his eye’s creepy. I swear if there wasn’t a film crew following them around, there is no way LC would’ve gotten on the back of his bike.

Now to the other juice.. SPEIDI!

Will they break up? Will they stay together? Will Spencer finally shave off his scruff?

I personally think Heidi should stay in Colorado and become a pro-skier but what would the Hills be without these two? Spencer makes a bold gesture, swallows his pride and flies down to apologize to the love of his life. And Heidi completely spazzes out about it. I mean I can’t stand Spencer but I actually felt sorry for him here. How can you get mad at your boyfriend for flying out to see you? Heidi was the ice queen. No smiles, all sarcasm. When did Heidi learn to be sarcastic? She was more Spencer in this episode than Spencer himself. They go out for dinner with her parents and she makes a toast to their love and support and what does she have to say about Spencer? Absolutely nothing. She just keeps asking him when he’s going to leave back to LA. And poor Spencer probably thought he was getting some.

Well at the end of this episode, both Spencer and Matthias got nothing. LC and Heidi stood up for women everywhere. The moral of the episode: say no to scary Frenchmen and men with bad facial hair.

Nude Photos of Audrina Patridge from The Hills Leak

andPOP Staff — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:57:43 +0000

Naked photos of MTV’S The Hills’ star Audrina Patridge have surfaced on the internet this week. Sources have stated that the brunette reality TV celeb had attempted to get picked up by Playboy immediately after she graduated high school.

Watch our interview with Audrina.

The photographs were shot in and around a posh Orange County property, and wwtdd.com has reported that a source present on the shoot has stated that she was “a natural in front of the camera and loved every second of the shoot at the L.A. mansion.”

Despite her efforts though, her pictures were rejected by Playboy, causing her to set her sights on glamour modeling instead.

Although Patridge has yet to grace the pages of Vogue, she has managed to keep herself busy by following her best friend and fellow Hill’s star Lauren Conrad around for the past three seasons of the hit show.

No comment has been released yet by the people at MTV regarding the discovery of the scandalous photos, and Audrina will still appear on all of the episodes set to air starting on Monday, March 24, at 10:00 p.m. on MTV.

Heidi Montag: I Want 4 Children!

Max Whiteside — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:37:09 +0000

At the end of the third season of The Hills, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt broke off their engagement. But if there was any doubt that the two of them were breaking off their relationship for good, listen to what they had to say over the weekend.

“I want to have a lot of kids,” Montag told andPOP while in Toronto to host a club night at Rockwood with her boyfriend and Hills co-star.

Adds Pratt, who is also managing her career as a singer: “Heidi woke up the other morning and goes, ‘I had the best dream. We had four kids and I was pregnant also.’ I was like, [in a sarcastic tone] ‘oh really. That’s a great dream.’”

Montag will release her official debut single, “Higher,” on Feb. 5 at iTunes as an exclusive pre-release, which will be accompanied by a music video produced by Pratt.

andPOP Interviews Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from The Hills

andPOP Staff — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:12:58 +0000

Two of the stars of the hit MTV show The Hills – Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt – hosted a party on Saturday at Rockwood in Toronto, and took some time to speak with andPOP in a Canadian online exclusive!

Montag will release her official debut single, “Higher,” on Feb. 5 at iTunes as an exclusive pre-release, which will be accompanied by a music video produced by Pratt, her boyfriend.

Watch the interview to find out more about her music, their relationship and the possibility of children in their future. And why did they just say they love Lauren? You’ll have to watch till the end to find out.

Behind the Scenes: MTV’s ‘The Hills: The After Show’

andPOP Staff — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:20:50 +0000

It is three minutes to air and the hosts aren’t ready.

“Oh,” says Jessi Cruickshank, as she leans into her co-host. Then, she lays one on him.

“Ugh,” winces Dan Levy. “That brush is disgusting!”

Cruickshank laughs as she dusts more powder onto her co-host’s face.

“OK, you’re done!”

Sitting on stage in a room of fewer than 20 people, Cruickshank and Levy look at the cameras – they’re good to go.

As the second episode of the popular MTV (Canada) reality show, “The Hills,” ends, hosts Cruickshank and Levy are ready to dish the dirt with viewers – and four fans on the in-studio panel – on “The Hills: The After Show.” Created by the pair and their producer, Garrett Wintrip, the live show lets Cruickshank and Levy review storylines from “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills,” draw on people’s faces with a telestrator, and—if they’re lucky—talk to cast members over the phone.

“This show started off as such a small, little thing and then slowly, people started watching,” says Levy. “Then, after we got Breanna [from the third season of "Laguna Beach"] on the show and she invited us to go out and meet her, it just kind of snowballed.”

“Going to Laguna was like stepping into a television show. Unbelievable,” says the redheaded Cruickshank, smiling. “There was no difference between the show and reality. Like, girls were whispering about how I was talking to Cameron. We were immersed in the drama whether we liked it or not.”

And it’s drama viewers love to watch. The day MTV announced there would be an audience for the “After Show” season finale in December, the e-mail and phone systems shut down at MTV because so many people wanted to be a part of it. Over 500 “Laguna Beach” fans lined up outside to hang out with the hosts and special guests Breanna Conrad and Cami Edwards from the show.

“These shows kind of celebrate that wealthy, popular and very attractive crowd,” says Cruickshank of why she thinks shows like “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” have drawn such huge fanbases. “But as people who didn’t necessarily live that in high school, it’s kind of fun to just look at it and take it all with a grain of salt.”

But surely, hosting the interactive “After Show” can’t be all that easy. During commercial breaks, Cruickshank goes over her questions and points, practicing so she doesn’t slip up—like calling a cast member “BJ”—on national television again. The hardest part of hosting the show?

“Working with this one,” Cruickshank says, smiling and nodding at Levy to her right. “He’s, uh, he’s tough.”

“Nice,” he laughs. “It’s such a natural thing and we have so much fun doing it that it’s not hard. It doesn’t even feel like work.”

Of course it wouldn’t, not when you’ve got four “After Show” friends and six glasses filled with a mysterious substance.

“I think that is the magic that is the ‘After Show,’” says Levy. “I think if we were to give that away, we’d be giving away what is the essence of our show.”

“We’ll keep the mystique in the martini glasses,” adds Cruickshank.

“Mm hmm,” Levy says as he leans in and whispers a secret. “It’s not always food colouring and water.”

Nice.

(Laguna Beach cast members Cami and Breanna appear with hosts Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank on last season’s Laguna Beach After Show)
All images courtesy of MTV