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Bethenny Frankel said, "Most housewives lie about what they're getting paid, in the same way, most housewives lie about whether or not they were fired. Just know that it ranges from $25,000 for the first season to seven figures. And for some people, more."
Once a reality show wraps, plenty of contestants try to cash in on their 15 minutes of fame, whereas others return to the jobs they put on hold. Sometimes, the winners also walk away with a splashy cash prize, but you may be surprised to learn that a lot of shows actually pay their contestants over the course of filming.
Here's how much contestants reportedly get paid on 17 popular reality shows:
1. According to Variety, celebrity contestants on Dancing with the Stars are paid $125,000 for the rehearsals and the first two weeks of the competition.
Eric Mccandless / Disney / Via Getty
They're paid more each additional week they make it, with a reported maximum of $295,000 as of 2019.
In 2023, Season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe told the Trading Secrets podcast, "You get a bonus every week that you make it. The final four are in the final episode; they all get paid the same. … But your signing bonus, I think you can negotiate a bit, like, to sign to say you're going on the show."
2. In a 2023 YouTube video, The Traitors Season 1 winner Aaron Evans said, "So, they don't technically 'pay' you. It's — I can't remember what the actual term was — but they basically subsidize what you would've got for work with the show. So, I think it's roughly about like — I don't know if I'm allowed to say that money – but I think it's like £100 a day or something."
BBC / Via youtube.com
He continued, "So, it's not that much, but then, at the same time, you're not...you're literally just on the show. So, it's definitely worth [it]."
3. According to a lawsuit filed by Love Is Blind Season 2 contestant Jeremy Hartwell, contestants were allegedly paid $1,000 a week while working up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
Netflix
If a couple decides to get married, the show covers their wedding essentials.
In 2020, a production rep told Women's Health, "Of course production supplies some of the basics, but because these are their real weddings, it’s up to them as to how to spend their money."
4. In a since-deleted 2024 TikTok video, Love Island Season 6 contestant Demi Jones reportedly said, "Yes, you do get paid to go on the show. I personally got paid £250 a week. This is obviously to cover all your bills at home because you could have a flat, you could have a car to pay, all the things like that. So obviously Love Island want to make sure that's all covered for you so you don't get into any financial difficulties while you're like away on holiday."
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"So, yeah, I got £250 a week. I don't know if that's the same now, but that's what I got paid when I was on winter Love Island, and obviously, you can make up for any losses if you work hard when you come out," she said.
5. On a 2021 episode of Jason Tartick's Trading Secrets podcast, Dean Unglert alleged he was offered $75,000 to be The Bachelor Season 22 lead, and Jason alleged he was offered $100,000 to lead Season 23 (though both men ultimately turned the offer down).
6. On Trading Secrets, Dean Unglert also said, "They hit me up, and they're like, 'Hey, do you want to do Bachelor in Paradise, this other show? It pays $400 bucks a day, and you could be there for up to 30 days, or something like that.' So I was like, 'Oh, yeah, great. $400 a day, 30 days, $12,000, that's fantastic.'"
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He continued, "And then I start talking to some friends, and they're like, 'Well, you should get more money because you're who they want most from your season to go to Paradise, minus [runner-up Peter Kraus], obviously.'"
He said he asked for $800 a day but settled for $600.
"Out of principle, I wanted them to pay me more than they were offering everybody else, just because I thought I was hot shit or something," he added.
7. The women leading The Bachelorette weren't always paid equally to their male counterparts. In 2023, Season 11 lead Kaitlyn Bristowe told the Trading Secrets podcast, "I think they offered me $40,000. You'd think I'd be like, 'Jackpot! Sign me up!'" But instead, she hired an entertainment lawyer.
Rick Rowell / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
She continued, "He changed a lot and negotiated my contract big time for me. One of the executive producers said to me, 'You got an entertainment lawyer, and you're asking for this amount of money? I'm sorry. I thought this is about love for you.' Fuck off! It's about love and money, OK? They go hand in hand for me right now. Because they said, 'You're going against Britt [Nilsson],' I was like, 'I'm not doing it.' And then I said, 'I'll only do it if you paid me as much as you paid Chris Soules.' I said I wanted to make the same as he did."
8. In 2018, Survivor Seasons 7 and 16 contestant Jonny Fairplay told TMZ, "For first person out, three days' work is $12,500 total. That moves up to around $40,000 if you're a jury member. The person that finishes second gets $110,000, and then, of course, the winner gets $1,010,000."
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images
"I'm not sure if I was allowed to say that. I might've broken an NDA," he added.
Entertainment Weekly broke it down further, reporting that the first contestant voted out gets $2,500, and the pay scale goes up from there. Additionally, each player receives $10,000 for the reunion.
However, the base salary goes up for returning players on all-star seasons.
According to Entertainment Weekly, not only did Survivor: Winners at War double the grand prize money to $2 million, but each contestant was also paid a minimum of $25,000 for returning plus the usual $10,000 for appearing on the reunion episode.
9. In a 2023 Instagram Reel, The Real Housewives of New York City alum Bethenny Frankel said, "It's an al la carte Chinese menu how housewives get paid. Most housewives lie about what they're getting paid, in the same way, most housewives lie about whether or not they were fired. Just know that it ranges from $25,000 for the first season to seven figures. And for some people, more."
Bravo / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images
She also said, "When we first started, it was favored nations. Favored nations means everybody gets paid the same. There's a different caliber of housewife that will come on the show now. So, when I started, everyone was paid the same number for the first season, which was a certain number of episodes."
For Season 2, she negotiated for a higher salary for herself and Jill Zarrin, and other cast members made their own various deals.
10. In 2019, TMZ reported that Celebrity Big Brother pays each contestant $100,000.
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images
The winner gets $250,000 on top of that.
11. In 2021, Big Brother Season 19 houseguest Elena Davies told Trading Secrets, "We’re paid a stipend per week. $1,000 per week, as long as you film. Say you are the first person sent home and you only film six hours in the house, you get your thousand."
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images
She said that, along with the 13 weeks she was paid for, she also won a "luxury comp" in a challenge, which earned her an additional $5,000.
12. Elena Davies also told the Trading Secrets podcast, "I got paid almost as much as I got paid for Big Brother filming Ex on the Beach [Season 3], but I only filmed Ex on the Beach for five days because I was the first person that they sent home. I just negotiated better than other people that I know."
MTV / Via Paramount+
She also said that MTV is keen to cast reality stars from CBS (which is also owned by Paramount), which often leads to them getting paid more than alum from MTV shows.
"That works for my favor a little bit, but I demanded a pretty high weekly stipend, and then I demanded guaranteed pay, which they don't normally offer because I was like, 'I'm not doing all this and then get getting sent home the first week.' Pay me what I want or no, thanks," she said.
13. In a 2023 Instagram Story Post, 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way alum Deavan Clegg reportedly wrote, "We only got $1,000 per episode we were featured in. We paid all travel costs, parking (when filming) food most days. Sometimes we would be reimbursed for certain things like clothing."
TLC / Via youtube.com
She continued, "So for Season 2, I wasn't paid out completely till almost a year after filming. We did get $1,500 for the tell-all. If I were to compare [the] cost to what needed to be spent to get to locations, food, clothing that wasn't reimbursed, I was close to breaking even."
14. In 2024, I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Season 2 winner Brendan "Fev" Fevola told his Fifi, Fev & Nick co-hosts, "In 2015, I got paid AU$250,000 upfront, and then AU$5,000 every show after the [first] two weeks."
Network 10 / Via youtube.com
"So you'd lay there on a Sunday and you'd think, 'There's another 7 days, there's AU$35,000, boom. Hopefully, they don't have an eviction during the week,'" he said.
15. In 2015, Married at First Sight executive producer Chris Coelen told The Wrap that the couples on the show are paid "almost nothing."
Lifetime / Via youtube.com
“Honestly, almost nothing," he added.
16. Not every reality show pays its contestants. In 2015, The Great British Bake-Off Season 5 contestant Chetna Makan told Digital Spy, "We were warned in the beginning that this was going to be an expensive experience, that we were going to have to spend some money. Because you don't really get any money to practice at home."
BBC One / Via youtube.com
She continued, "If you want to make the cake five times at home to practise, that's your own problem, because they aren't going to pay for it. But in the tent, they would provide you with everything you wanted. You could ask for a fruit that grows on the moon, and they will bring it."
17. And finally, in 2020, Too Hot To Handle Season 1 contestant Bryce Hirschberg told the Hollywood Raw podcast that he received "no fee" for appearing on the show.
Netflix
He said, "They way they pitched it was, 'Oh Bryce, you're gonna make a ton of money after this anyway.' You know what I mean? 'You're gonna get a lot of exposure; it'll be fine for ya.' And I'm like, 'I'm not really going for the money anyways. I'm going for the experience.' And I know that exposure will come through as well, obviously, which is, nice, obviously. And it's an island vacation with hot single singles, and it's on Netflix."
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