A former reality TV villain might just be proving to be the real life hero Los Angeles needs to be saved from itself.
Spencer Pratt and his wife Heidi Montag (a.k.a. “Speidi”) made names for themselves on reality shows like The Hills, but their lives took a turn when their home was destroyed by the devastating Palisades fire in January 2025. The couple and their two children were not harmed, but the fires sparked a new career path for Pratt who is now running for mayor of L.A.
His independent campaign focused on public safety was already making headlines thanks to Pratt’s social media savvy and straight talk, but his widely praised performance in Wednesday’s primary debate is what got Megyn’s attention.
Pratt’s Performance
Pratt, who has labeled himself a “truth-to-power” candidate, made the debate stage hosted by NBC LA and Telemundo alongside incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and progressive City Council member Nithya Raman, who had actually endorsed Bass’ reelection bid before entering the race at the last minute.
“Spencer Pratt was a star at the L.A. mayor’s debate last night. Watching him against Karen Bass and that other woman, Nithya Raman, was a thing of beauty,” Megyn said on Thursday’s edition of The Megyn Kelly Show. “This guy was real. He was raw. It was authentic. It was unafraid… I enjoyed him thoroughly.”
In one of the more memorable moments of the night, Pratt warned Raman would “get stabbed in the neck” if she actually tried to execute her ideas to tackle the city’s homelessness crisis.
“I will go below the Harbor Freeway tomorrow with her, and we can find some of these people she is going to offer treatment for. She’s going to get stabbed in the neck,” Pratt warned. “These people do not want a bed, they want fentanyl or super meth. These ideas cost us over $400 million to ‘house’… 3,000 people. For 400 million? It is an absolute failure for both of them. They’re a team.”
Megyn said Pratt’s message was spot on and the only question is how Californians will respond to that kind of “frank” talk. “He is exactly right, as we all know… He is talking frankly to Angelinos, and they know it. They know what he’s saying is real,” she noted. “And he’s nonpartisan… I think he is running as an independent, and he sounded like an independent when you heard him talk last night.”
Outsider Status
Like the closely watched California governor’s race, the top two vote-getters – regardless of party affiliation – in the open primary will face off in November’s general election. In the case of the local mayoral race, if a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 2 primary, they win the election outright.
Pratt had some thoughts on who he would like to face-off against in November after Raman, who struggled mightily throughout the night, bizarrely accused him and Bass of conspiring against her.
“First off, Mayor Bass and I are definitely not working together,” he said. “I blame this person for burning my house, and my parents’ house, and my town, and all my neighbors down. I am not working with Mayor Bass.”
He then issued what many have called the line of the night with his description of Raman: “Second off, if I wanted to run against anybody, it would be the council member who is terrible. Mayor Bass has at least been a mayor for almost four years and has, as she talked about earlier, the unions. All the unions endorsed Mayor Bass. You think it’s easier to run against the incumbent mayor with all the unions, or a random city council member who’s been a failure for six years. I would much rather run against Councilwoman Ramen. Thank you very much.”
The Los Angeles Times reported Raman was so offended by the “random city council member” quip that she continued to whine about it to a KNBC reporter after the debate.
Megyn said it was a “brilliant” approach to the question. “That was brilliant because he dissed the councilwoman as a nobody, which she took issue with… and also dissed Karen Bass in the same fell swoop,” she noted. “You could feel his contempt for his two adversaries in a way that was refreshing. It wasn’t a turn off.”
Positive Showing
Pratt has no political experience and has vowed to “surround himself with the smartest people in the world” as mayor. The outsider status is what makes him attractive to many, and Megyn praised the fact that he showed up prepared, especially on topics like the 2025 wildfires for which Bass continues to pass the buck.
“Karen Bass tried to get up there and blame the L.A. fire debacle on everyone other than herself. Everyone,” she explained. “He’s living in a trailer after he lost his house with the receipts… This is a former reality TV star, but he has studied up and he knew his facts and the figures about what was going on with the water reservoirs, what the winds were on the night… He had all of his stats and figures and was firing them off with ease.”
Pratt’s long shot bid is suddenly not looking quite like such a long shot anymore, and Megyn believed he only helped his chances Wednesday night with early voting now underway. “[He had] very good political instincts, and what you walk away thinking at the end of the debate is he is just likable. If you’re anything other than a hard leftist, he is likable and he instills confidence,” she said. “I think there is something about somebody who has been personally affected by the incompetence of the current ruler, Karen Bass, that will be inspirational and, hopefully, motivational for the people who live in L.A.”
Her plea to voters: “Please save L.A. Save L.A. You guys need Spencer Pratt.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,312 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.