Spence speaks!

Everybody loves to hate Spencer Pratt of "The Hills," the MTV hit series about Teen Vogue intern Lauren Conrad and her histrionic friends. If you take Spencer Pratt at face value, as he is portrayed on MTV's "The Hills," you'd have good reason to hate himIntroduced last season, Spencer, 24, was immediately positioned as the villain of the hit series about Teen Vogue intern Lauren Conrad and her histrionic friends. Lauren. who narrates the series, presented herself as the good girl, but her mercurial personality indicated that selfish motives shaped her decisions. Lauren blamed Spencer for coming between her and her BFF Heidi Montag. Fans have accused Spencer, who is now engaged to Heidi, of being a manipulative playboy who'll do anything to get publicity. (His Web site, spencerpratt.com, bears the tagline: "Feel free to hate on me. . . .daily!")To set the record straight, The Post chatted with Spencer to find out if he's worth hating. Surprisingly, he isn't the jerk that people think he is. Over the phone, at least.

The Post: Why does "The Hills" narrator Lauren Conrad hate you so much?

Spencer: Lauren started out loving me, telling me she wanted me to meet her dad. She stopped liking me when she and her boyfriend Brody split up. Heidi and I used to go on double dates with her and Brody. When she and Brody broke up, Lauren became the third wheel. She wanted Heidi to go back to being her single friend, it's as simple as that.

The Post: So you didn't do anything to Lauren?

Spencer: Lauren stopped liking me when the double dating stopped. It happened the night she and Brody ended. The next morning, on camera, she surprises Heidi with, "I don't like Spencer." I never had any problem with Lauren until the Us Weekly magazine story, where she and her sidekicks bashed Heidi and me for six pages.MTV publicist: "I'm sorry, can we move on to the next question?"

The Post: You're probably the most hated cast member of "The Hills." Does that bother you?

Spencer: Yeah, it bums me out because people are judging me and they don't even know me. I'm in the show for spans of 10 seconds and people are like, "I hate that guy!" based on seeing clips of my life with some sad music playing in the background.If this was "The Truman Show," I would have a lot more chances for people to really see who I really am, but in 22 minutes, it's very difficult to see how Spencer Pratt really is and how he really cares about Heidi in 15. But, there's nothing I can do.

The Post: Do haters ever approach you on the street?

Spencer: I always read that people are coming up to me and being mean, but I'm like, "Yeah, right!" People are huge fans, it's crazy. Last night at a restaurant, Heidi had 15 adult women screaming at the top of their lungs, "Team Heidi! Team Heidi!" I was just like, "This is a very odd thing in pop culture, that adult women are screaming, 'Team Heidi' like cheerleaders, in a nice restaurant."

The Post: What makes you and Heidi such a good fit?

Spencer: I've never met somebody who I click with and get along with so well. I'm with her 24 hours, seven days a week. I'm sitting reading magazines while she's getting her nails done - sometimes I get a little pedicure. Heidi and I are just, I don't know, like peanut better and jelly.

The Post: What do you do when you're not filming "The Hills"?

Spencer: All day long, I am Heidi's manager. I'm 100% focused on her music career and making her a multi-platinum pop star. I go to the studio, listen to different producers and tracks, work with song writers, work on projects for endorsements, things like that.I also have a rap artist, YaBoy, who's big on the West Coast right now. They say he's like the new Tupac.

The Post: Any truth to rumors that you and Heidi will be doing a "Newlyweds"-type of show?

Spencer: Right now, our focus is "The Hills" and continuing to be part of a hit show. But, we love MTV and want to continue doing reality TV. Down the line, if the opportunity arises, we'd love to do it. I'm an entertainer, I love making people react, either to laugh or get mad. I've always been an entertainer, dating back to elementary school.