There are all sorts of details in the Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt separation, and many point to the fact that they were having serious issues but are also separating for the sake of Heidi’s career. The franken reality star is about to get her own show, filmed in a beach house with a girlfriend she met on her other reality show, The Hills. They’ll need some kind of plot to drive the new show. What better drama than Heidi’s recent breakup with her husband and a pre-staged reconciliation?

Heidi has spoken out for the first time about the split, to People Magazine, and she says she just needs some space and time and that there are “so many lies out there about me.” She added that it’s “it’s time to concentrate on myself” and that “I’ve always loved Spencer, but right now we’re working on things.”

Heidi’s new co-star, Jennifer Bunney, tells TMZ that Heidi is still trying to decide whether to divorce Spencer, and that she isn’t ready to file papers yet.

Meanwhile Radar Online has two recent reports about what a whack job Spencer is, including a tale of how he pulled a gun on a friend who was late getting back with his groceries, and another about how Spencer once answered the door with tinfoil on his head. Spencer has moved out of the home he shared with Heidi, according to Radar. This is somewhat confusing because Heidi is also moving out and he presumably wouldn’t need to leave if she’s gone.

Notwithstanding all these suspicious, over-the-top stories about Spencer’s behavior, at least one source claims that Heidi and Spencer’s split is just for publicity purposes and that they’ll reunite as part of a pre-determined plot line for Heidi’s show:

Get this for a story pitch: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt split up after a year of marriage, but don’t file any legal papers. The ‘Hills’ starlet moves to a beach house for the summer where she films a reality show with her newly minted BFF. During the course of taping this sure-to-be classic show, Pratt returns to the fold and by the time the finale rolls around, wins back Montag’s heart and they return home to Los Angeles.

While many of you may be hoping Heidi really did ditch Spencer last week, sources inside and outside the family have a different take on the situation.

“It’s really just another one of Spencer’s publicity stunts,” a friend close to the situation tells PopEater. “They really are still together. This will all be revealed in time. They aren’t going to separate. It’s all a part of Heidi’s new show.”

The currently untitled show will start production in July, RadarOnline.com reported. Montag’s friend and co-star, Jennifer Bunney, said the program will “focus on our friendship, getting through things with each other like marriage stuff and boyfriend stuff.”

Getting through the “marriage stuff” should make for great TV, especially when Pratt shows up to repair their relationship. [There are also reports that Pratt’s production company is producing the show.]

But Montag’s sister, Holly, isn’t buying it. “If anyone has come to expect anything from those two is that they are the Liars,” she wrote on Twitter over the weekend.

But staging a break-up to create the basis for a reality show? Since TMZ first reported about the split on May 28, Montag has been absolutely gleeful in messages on Twitter.

“This is going to be the best summer of my life!!!” she wrote hours after news of the split broke. She has since had “girls night sleep over” with Bunney and has been enjoying some “Girls only!!!!” time.

[From Popeater, thanks to Kaiser]

This makes the most sense to me. I think Spencer really is a crazy militaristic crystal-loving control freak (to some extent) but someone went overboard when they told Radar that he answered the door with tinfoil on his head. These stories sound as fake as Heidi’s giant boobs. Heidi and Spencer’s camp are playing up these reports so that they’ll get more press for their “breakup” and inevitable reunion.

Note: Heidi has her old face in some of the photos below: