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Turns out Spencer Pratt is more old-fashioned than he lets on. Before he asks for his Hills co-star and girlfriend Heidi Montag's hand in marriage, he wants to get permission from Heidi's father. And by all accounts, he has it! "Spencer is a great, great kid," Bill Montag, a rancher who currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colo., tells Life & Style. "Every father wants his daughter to be with someone like Spencer, believe me.."

Bill, who's divorced from Heidi's mom, Darlene, first met Spencer during a heartbreaking time -- at the March 2008 funeral of Heidi's stepbrother Eric, who was killed in a household accident after returning from military service in Iraq. But even amid tragedy, it was clear to Bill how happy Spencer makes his daughter -- and how much he enjoys doting on her. "He's such a gentleman, opening doors for her and pulling out her chair," Bill notes. "It meant a lot to me to see that -- it showed me that he's always thinking about her."

For more on Heidi and Spencer's romance -- and how dad Bill feels about him -- pick up the latest issue of Life & Style, on newssands now!