Heidi Montag 'Died for a Minute' After Undergoing 10 Body-Altering Surgeries in 24 Hours

Not only was her reputation left in shambles after she took on the role of America's favorite villain, she says she nearly died as a result of undergoing 10 cosmetic procedures all in one day.

"There was a lot of Team Lauren," Heidi told Paper Magazine of her days on "The Hills." "And it was just a different time when people took reality TV very seriously. They were invested in Lauren emotionally, because she had come from Laguna Beach and was the narrator for each episode. It was frustrating for me at the time. Everyone just assuming I was this bad friend and bad person. It was especially challenging when everyone was against my relationship [with Spencer]. 'The Hills' machine was so powerful, and it was impossible to get over. The money definitely made it a little bit easier, but the repercussions were really hard."

"That was really fun, going to the bank," she said. "It was such a different carefree time in my life."

So carefree, in fact, that Heidi invested $2 million of her own money into a music career -- an investment that saw nearly no return. She said her unsuccessful music venture was due in part to her reputation and in part to the fact that "pop wasn't trendy or cool" when her album was released.

In the feature, Heidi also opened up about the 10 body-altering surgeries she elected to undergo in the course of 24 hours.

"Spencer thought he lost me," she explained. "I died for a minute. With that much surgery, I had to have 24-hour nurse care, and Spencer didn't want to leave my side. I was at a recovery center and had Demerol to deal with the pain because it was so extreme. My security guards called Spencer and told him, 'Heidi's heart stopped. She's not going to make it.' And I easily could've."

"Cutting yourself up isn't something I'd recommend," she added." And Demerol isn't anything to play around with. That's how Michael Jackson died."

Heidi also took a jab at today's era of social media users for praising the very "fame-whorey" things she and her husband caught flack for on the regular.

"Things that Spencer and I were shamed for, like, 'Oh they're so cheesy and over-the-top' -- now every A-list celebrity is doing, it's just on their Instagram," she said. "It's the exact same thing, and it's being seen by maybe even more people than what we had done. It's fascinating that that's accepted now, but it was cheesy and fame-whorey when we did it."