Spencer Pratt breaks silence on being branded a 'douche canoe' by Gayle King

Spencer Pratt is beginning a new chapter as an author and aspiring politician, but memories of his time as one of reality TV's most-loathed stars won't soon be fading from the public consciousness. 

The MTV alum, 42, has released a memoir, The Guy You Loved To Hate: Confessions from a Reality TV Villain, and is doing the press rounds to promote the new book - including an appearance on CBS Mornings.

Host Gayle King didn't hold back as she brought up his image on The Hills, calling him a 'douche canoe' who had a flair for pushing the envelope. 

Now Pratt has broken his silence on the comment - admitting he was surprised by the remark after initially being impressed by King's interest in his book during their 30 minute pre-interview.

'You know, I’ve been called everything at this point, so I haven’t been called that,' he said on Page Six Radio on SiriusXM. 'But my reaction of being called everything is pretty good.'

The comment came as a curve ball to Pratt after King arrived to their pre-interview with notes and his book. 

'She threw me off because we had a thirty minute pre, and she had notes, my whole book, all these quotes. So I don’t know if she did it to get me soft, you know? Like it was a bait and switch, like she’s like a pro, or once she gets in front of the camera?'

Pratt was prepared to be compared to poet Robert Frost during his interview but instead was met with the juvenile remark. 

'But I was expecting to get gassed up and just be like, "Oh, this book is like Robert Frost, it’s so poetic," and then she was like, "You’re a douche canoe!" I'm like, "oh!"'

Fortunately the comment is the least of Pratt's worries.

The star, who lost his Pacific Palisades homes during last year's wildfires, said he was merely 'grateful' for the chance to speak in an actual studio.

'I’m very humble these days. I’m grateful to be sitting with lights in a studio and not just filming myself. So you can... get away with calling me anything with good lighting!'

It's been over a decade since Pratt last graced screens as Heidi Montag's boyfriend on The Hills, and despite stirring major drama on the show, he has no regrets. 

King blasted his time on the show during his appearance on CBS Mornings, as he discussed his new book and aspirations to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. 

'Spencer, there were so many times where really you were just a douche canoe on that show. And you just seemed to amp it up, amp it up, amp it up. Was there ever a time when you got home, and you’d go, "I can’t believe I just did that or just said that?" Or were you aware of how you were coming across at the time?' King asked.

Pratt doubled down on the image he cultivated, insisting the rest of the cast should have followed in his lead for greater success. 

'I was well aware. If anything, I probably should have been a bigger douche canoe,' he replied. 'The show ended and Jersey Shore is still airing, still a success and I always wanted to be part of a franchise, a team like the Jersey Shore cast. So I think the rest of the cast should have all tried to been bigger douche canoes.' 

Pratt dated now-wife Montag on The Hills, and they wed in 2008 and have welcomed two sons. 

A new memoir chronicling his time during the noughties is now out, with a description stating the book 'charts his rise and fall as America’s most notorious reality TV villain on The Hills—and how, from the ashes of the Pacific Palisades fires, he’s finally ready for his redemption arc.'

The book features one particularly buzz-worthy description of how he once leaked photos of Mary-Kate Olsen to a magazine. 

In an excerpt obtained by People, Pratt recalled that he capitalized on his friend Max Winkler's breakup from Mary-Kate Olsen, now 39, in the early aughts. 

He attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California in 2002 with The Row co-founder and Winkler, son of actor Henry Winkler.

According to People, Pratt penned that he disassembled Winkler's 'photo shrine' to Olsen – which he described as 'young love documented in European hotels, Hollywood parties, stolen moments' – and sold the fragments to a tabloid for $50,000.

'I asked Max if I could take the photos off his wall – you know, for his healing process. He didn't say no, so I took that to be a yes,' read an excerpt.

'Here I was, 20 years old, turning my buddy's romantic misery into startup capital,' he bragged in the book.

He added, 'Less than a week later there it was, evidence of my entrepreneurial genius staring back at me from the InTouch cover at a gas station: 'TEENS GONE WILD!' across the cover.'

The author noted that a photo of him with Olsen was also published, after it was provided to the magazine by another seller.

'A shot of Mary-Kate with a constellation of empties — 'LOOK AT ALL THE EMPTIES!' — and there I was in the background, frozen mid-shaka.

'I hadn't sold that frame. Someone else was shopping, and now I wasn't just the seller, I was part of the merchandise.

'My face was now forever linked to Mary-Kate Olsen's supposed wild phase, preserved in grocery store checkout lines across America,' he illustrated.