While it didn't take a lot of detective work to figure out that Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's wedding in Mexico couldn't have been official, promos for the upcoming season of The Hills show the two making their marriage real in a Los Angeles courtroom. Or not. It seems someone over at The AP decided to do a little digging into the matter...

Despite all the official trappings, the tease of legitimate nuptials for the pair may be just that. A Los Angeles Superior Court official said Tuesday that MTV was recently granted permission to shoot in a courtroom in Beverly Hills, but it was done after hours — and that's not one of their judges sitting on the bench in "The Hills" footage.

MTV was granted permission to film "what purported to be a wedding outside of court hours" at the Beverly Hills courthouse, court spokesman Allan Parachini said Tuesday. He did not know who the participants were in the wedding, but Parachini said court officials wanted the filming to be treated as a news event.

The preview for next week's season finale features a wood-paneled courtroom with the California state seal perched on the wall behind a judge. Civil ceremonies are sometimes performed at the Beverly Hills courthouse, but not in the manner portrayed in the brief preview. If a judge does preside, it is typically in chambers during a break, Parachini said.

Pratt, 25, and Montag, 22, acknowledged that their Nov. 19 marriage ceremony near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, was entirely symbolic, despite appearing on the Nov. 26 cover of Us Weekly with the headline "Heidi & Spencer Elope!" Monday's episode of "The Hills" depicted the pair spontaneously agreeing to exchange vows after downing several shots of tequila.

"In my mind, it's as legal as the ring on my finger," Pratt told Us Weekly.

Well you know what Spencer? In your mind you're also not one of the planet's biggest shitheads, but reality demonstrates otherwise.

I don't think anyone has ever really believed The Hills was a legitimate reality TV show in the "reality" sense, but it turns out it's even more phony than imaginable. Maybe if we're lucky MTV will stage a fake dramatic death for Heidi and Spencer and we'll never have to hear about them again. Since Heidi's family already hates Spencer, they can go out Romeo & Juliet style. Better yet, don't fake it.