Heidi Montag Through the Years...

Heidi Montag first came to national fame as a supporting character on the docudrama Laguna Beach. When MTV decided to launch The Hills, Montag was one of the central stars, sharing an apartment with the show's focus (and narrator) Lauren Conrad.

When The Hills premieres, Montag does not recieve rave reviews. Virginia Heffernan, writing for the New York Times, pans Montag as "a hammy deadbeat." During the first episode, Montag describes her life goal as: "I want to be the fun party P.R. girl in L.A."

In the first season, the show casts Montag as a somewhat pushy, if always fun roommate for Conrad, who is hard at work as an intern at Teen Vogue. Montag, meanwhile, lands a job at PR firm Bolthouse Productions, where she quickly rises up the ladder.

In the summer of 2006, Montag began to date another cast member of The Hills, Spencer Pratt. Season two of the show focused the disintergration Montag and Conrad's friendship. The second season ended with Montag moving out of the apartment in order to live with Pratt.

For a few months in 2007, Montag disappears from the public eye. She reemerges noticably altered in mid-2007, later telling Us Weekly she underwent breast augmentation and rhinoplasty. "I hated my body," says Montag. She is 20 years old.

For much of late 2007 and early 2008, Montag has something of a golden period. Montag releases a single, "Higher" on iTunes, after being signed on to record label Warner Brothers.

She also develops a line of clothing called Heidiwood, which she debuts in April of 2008. Fashion critics are not kind, with New York Magazine writing: "No self-respecting grown woman should allow herself to be seen in these garments."

It also marks the beginning of a real cultural backlash against Montag. "Heidi is turning into Paris 2.0," writes New York Magazine. "Terrible singer, lame boyfriends, famous mostly for on-camera pouting, and excessively eager to merchandise herself, regardless of actual quality."

In April, the two tie the knot again, this time with family and (perhaps more importantly) photographers present. The wedding is held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, CA. The wedding later serves as a linchpin for an episode of The Hills.

While Montag's music career does not take off, and her clothing line is quietly shuttered, the two remain popular with paparazzi, thanks to their willingness to create photo ops such as this one, taken at Italian restuarant Il Pastio in Beverly Hills.

In November of 2009, the two release their book, How to Be Famous: Our Guide to Looking the Part, Playing the Press and Becoming a Tabloid Fixture. “What you are about to read is our no-fail, no-nonsense (well, some would say it’s ALL-nonsense) insider’s guide to take you from nobody to notorious," the book's intro reads.

In an exclusive cover story and interview with People, Montag lays out the full extent of the work she had done, which includes breast implants that increase her bust to a triple-D, brow lift, a nose job revision, liposuction on her stomach and thighs, and a "back scoop."

Montag seems, for the moment, to be done with plastic surgery. In any case, at least one part of her body is off limits for future work. According to Montag, her breasts are already at the maximum size allowed by the Food and Drug Adminstration. "I'm very weird about hugging people now," says Montag. "My body is very fragile."