Long term fans will know that the TOWIE cast traditionally don't earn a massive amount from filming. In fact, it was previously reported that the stars would earn as little as £100 a day filming - although, when you're getting all your food, drinks, entry and travel covered, we'd say it's better than a kick in the teeth.
We're suddenly wondering whether Elma Pazar actually paid for that bottle of Prosecco at Courtney Green's birthday. WAIT, for that matter, did Dan Edgar actually pay for that olive branch tequila shot with Ella Rae Wise?
During a recent interview with Strugglers Language, OG TOWIE star Kirk Norcross lifted the lid on his break up with Lauren Pope, TOWIE producers and how much dollar he was banking from his show stint.
"You were earning big from TOWIE," Kirk admitted before explaining, "Not from TOWIE but the things that came off the back of it. I was doing PAs, I was doing three PAs a week – four grand an hour."
For those of you who aren't up to date with the lingo, PA stands for public appearance and back in the days when reality TV came about PAs were all the rage (Paris Hilton started that one across the pond). Whether you were taking part in Love Island, TOWIE or Geordie Shore, the 'stars' would all rock up at clubs and bars to chat to their fans, take a few pics and be on their merry way.
"Worst case scenario I'd do two PA's in a week," Kirk went on
"Eight grand in a week, every week. Sometimes you do one every f***ing night if you're on tour up north."
Kirk isn't the first TOWIE star to chat about the controversial subject of making money in the world of reality TV.
Back in 2019, it was reported that some of the longer-running TOWIE cast had demanded a pay rise in their contract renewals. Sources claimed that stars were split into pay bands dependent on how long they'd been on the show, with the longest serving stars said to be earning up to £450 an episode.
Others are said to be earning between £90 and £350 a day from filming, with the source adding, "Many of the cast were due to have their contracts renewed and so this tied in to the increases.”
Although, according to show icon Saffron Lempriere, things have improved; well, as long you've been there a while, and as long as you didn't join in 2010, because the pay was allegedly "bad" back then.
Speaking to Vicky Pattison on her The Secret To podcast, Saffron revealed, "The longer you're there, the better you're paid. It's like a tier system and I think it's a fair way of doing it. Obviously, when you get to the top, though, there's nowhere to climb so then there's discussions. But, yeah, they were paid bad back in the day. It's true."
"To be honest, when I first started, I wasn't on great money myself. The longer you're there for and then obviously it pays off. But, obviously, it's not like Geordie."
For context: Geordie Shore stars got that MTV money HONEY.
Of course, all these TOWIE salaries don't have much baring on how much each of the cast could (and probably are) earning from social media.
Data released in April 2021 by company Pilot Fish Media found that TOWIE were the fifth highest earning reality stars on British TV, behind the likes of Real Housewives of Cheshire and Love Island faces.
The data revealed that, on average, their social media businesses hike their net worth up to £5,342,857 and put their earnings-per-post at a whopping £28,733.
The Only Way Is Essex's Chloe Brockett previously revealed she was on track to be a millionaire by her 21st birthday and now that the reality TV star has officially passed that milestone birthday we hope her prediction was correct. She's worth it, for sure.
CHECK OUT: how much do the TOWIE cast get paid?
How much do the TOWIE cast get paid
1 of 11Chloe Sims
Chloe Sims WAS the longest running cast member on the show (surpassed only by Amy Childs, who was absent for nearly a decade). As a result, she's estimated to be worth well over £1m, raking it in through social media and her beauty businesses. She recently travelled to Paris Fashion Week where she worked as a make-up artist, since leaving the show Chloe has been filming for her new program House of Sims with her siblings.
2 of 11Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell
Gatsby earns most of his money in business, but in 2020 revealed he was 'retiring'. In 2019 it was reported that he was worth about £2m, with a source telling The Sun, "The reality star made his money as a real estate broker and he's been a business partner for the London Dermatology Centre for the last six years." He also likes to think of himself as a bit of a musician.
3 of 11Amy Childs
Amy was TOWIE's OG It Girl and was the first to leave the show after series one. Since then she's gone onto have a killer career on social media and other reality shows, like Celebs Go Dating. She's thought to be worth about £5m.
4 of 11Demi Sims
Demi is the younger sister of Queen Bee Chloe but that doesn't mean she's not amassed an impressive fortune of her own. She's big on Instagram and works with a number of fashion and beauty brands, including PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo. Not to mention that House of Sims DOLLAR.
5 of 11Dan Edgar
Dan was one half of one of TOWIE's strongest couples (he split with Amber Turner earlier this year) and has been on the show since 2015. Dan's time on TOWIE has earned him quite the following on Instagram (he has 505k followers). Thanks to sponsorship deals and being savvy with his money, Dan is reportedly worth £1million.
6 of 11Amber Turner
Dan's ex-girlfriend Amber is also estimated to be worth a pretty penny, having starred on the show since March 2017. Before joining the show she had her fingers in a lot of pies, including working as a waitress and at a law firm in compliance, but she's since been estimated to be worth at least £1m thanks to social media and brand endorsements.
7 of 11Chloe Brockett
Chloe is a relative newcomer in comparison to the others on this list, having joined in 2019, but she's certainly been a standout star in recent series' and her estimated net worth reflects this. According to reports, she joined the millionaires club in early 2021.
8 of 11James 'Diags' Bennewith
Another Golden Oldie (in TOWIE terms), Diags has been on the show since series FOUR - that's 2012, FYI – but, heartwarmingly, he's kept his old job working for his family plumbing business, Plumb Point.
9 of 11Saffron Lempriere
During lockdown, Saffron got heavily into upcycling old furniture and launched her own company, Twice As Nice Furnishings. She's also on Cameo and has 159k Instagram followers, so you can bet she's giving older TOWIE stars a run for their money.
10 of 11Pete Wicks
Former TOWIE star Pete once told Closer he thought of himself as the Ian Beale of the show, having joined in 2014, but prior to that he was already earning a decent amount as a company director at a firm in the city. Nowadays he's estimate to earn loads from his property portfolio, reality TV work, podcasts and social media influencing.
11 of 11Frankie Sims
The middle Sims sister, Frankie, earned a first class degree from the University of Lancashire in 2018, but these days you're more likely to find her posing up a storm for her 355k followers.