Do You Remember: Heidi Montag’s Ten Cosmetic Surgeries in One Day

The Hills star got an extreme makeover and shocked even the most cynical reality TV viewer.

How much surgery is too much surgery? At what point does a quick nip-tuck become scandalous? As fillers and Botox become so commonplace that there’s a clinic offering such treatments in my local shopping centre, it’s easy to assume we’ve become totally desensitized to the gravity of such procedures. They’re sold as being as mundane as buying a new lipstick. I’m not sure there’s much that would shock us about such things nowadays, not unless it goes horribly wrong. As I saw yet another post on my Instagram feed trying to sell me on forehead fillers and Botox for my jawline, I was reminded of very recent history and a moment in reality TV lore that cemented the idea that one could do too much to seek attention.

The Hills launched in May 2006 on MTV. It was spin-off of the series Laguna Beach, which focused on the lives of some privileged high-schoolers in "the real O.C." Because that show had been such a hit, showrunner and producer Adam DiVello developed a spin-off. The star of the show was Lauren Conrad, an ambitious beauty with aspirations of becoming a fashion designer, as she tried to make her way up the professional ladder in the bright lights of Los Angeles. Joining her were her friends Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port, and her roommate Heidi Montag, herself a wannabe designer. By the second season, Montag had a boyfriend, Spencer Pratt. He had briefly appeared on a one-season reality show on Fox about the ex-wife and sons of Caitlyn Jenner. Together, they became Speidi.