My mate Jacob works in television production, and last month he let slip something that nearly made me choke on my tea. There was some rubbish advert during the football, and I joked about how easy celebrities have it. “Easy?” he laughed. “That thirty-second spot probably paid for someone’s house deposit.”
That got me wondering: how much do celebrities get paid for the stuff we see them in every day? It seems the answer is much more and less mental than you might imagine.
The Big Brother Money Machine
We’ll begin with something gloriously British – Celebrity Big Brother. The money these stars receive to laze around in a house eating beans on toast is absolutely bonkers. The pay range for CBB stars definitely seems quite wide, with some appearing on the show for as little as £20k, while others go all the way up to a whopping £500k.
But now it gets really mad. Mickey Rourke got the boot from the Celebrity Big Brother house after a little over a week, leaving fans wondering if he’ll still get his £500,000 fee. Half a million quid for a week’s work! My father put 30 years in construction and never saw that sort of money.
Singer Chesney, on the other hand, reportedly getting £25K for CBB just seems fairly modest, to be honest, on the scale of what the bigger fish make. But I mean, twenty-five grand just for having a camera follow you? Not bad work if you can get it.
The mad thing about how much do celebrities get paid for Big Brother is that some stars probably earn more per day than most people make in a year. According to the tabloids, Sharon was reportedly paid an eye-watering £100,000 a day and only appeared for eight days in the house. That’s mental money for eating crisps and having a chat.
Advert Money Is Proper Mental
The commercial work is where stuff really heats up when we discuss how much do celebrities get paid. A principal actor in a commercial can earn between $588.90 and $783.10 for a starting session fee, the starting point, and that’s not even for real celebrities, but just for regular actors.
In the big leagues, the numbers all go completely barmy. The charges, which vary depending on the level of a celebrity’s fame, can be as little as less than $50,000 for a brief cameo and millions of dollars for Super Bowl adverts. Bray said he believes the tab for most stars who appear in a Super Bowl spot is in the $2 million range.
Two million dollars for thirty seconds of work. Let that sink in for a minute. My postman Brian would have to deliver mail for about forty years to earn what some celebrities make in half a minute.
For UK adverts specifically, actors in the UK are typically paid between £500 and £10,000 for appearing in an advert, depending on the size, length, and budget of the commercial. But again, those are regular actors. A-list celebrities? Sky’s the limit.
Game Show Appearances—Trickier Than You’d Think
The question of how much do celebrities get paid for appearing on game shows UK is properly complicated. Some shows pay appearance fees; others don’t. It depends on whether the celebrity’s also an actor (union rules kick in), what show it is, and how desperate the producers are to get them.
My cousin works at the BBC, and she says celebrity booking is like a bizarre auction. Shows have budgets for “talent fees,” but they don’t always use them. Sometimes celebrities do game shows just for the publicity or because their agent thinks it’s good for their image.
The clever bit is that even if they don’t get paid directly, appearing on popular game shows keeps them in the public eye. That visibility can lead to bigger-paying gigs later on.
The Regular Telly Money
For everyday television work, British actors aren’t exactly rolling in it. Actors can expect a minimum weekly rate of £572.25 per week in the 2024/25 financial year, rising to £600.86 for 2025/26 and £630.90 in 2026/27. That’s decent money, but it’s not celebrity lifestyle money.
My neighbour’s daughter went to drama school thinking she’d be rich and famous. Three years later, she’s waiting tables between small telly roles. The reality is that most actors aren’t celebrities; they’re just working people trying to pay the bills.
The Truth About Celebrity Wealth
Here’s what really gets me about how much do celebrities get paid: the gap between the top tier and everyone else is absolutely massive. A-listers can command millions for a single project, while working actors scrape by on minimum rates.
I remember watching Graham Norton last year when some actor mentioned they’d done three films that year but still couldn’t afford to buy a flat in London. Meanwhile, other guests on the same show probably earned more for that one appearance than most people make in months.
The Commercials Game
British adverts don’t pay quite as mental money as American ones, but they’re still decent earners for celebrities. The thing is, once you’re famous enough, brands start throwing money at you just to hold their product and smile.
My sister works in advertising, and she told me they once paid a former soap star fifteen grand just to eat a chocolate bar on camera. It took about four hours to film, including all the retakes. Not a bad day’s work, really.
What It All Means
Look, I’m not having a go at celebrities for earning good money. If people are willing to pay mad amounts to watch them or buy products they endorse, fair play to them.
But it does make you think about how barmy our priorities are sometimes. Teachers, nurses, and firefighters, who are the people doing actually important jobs, earn a fraction of what someone gets for pretending to enjoy a soft drink on camera.
Still, I can’t say I wouldn’t take the money if someone offered it to me. Five hundred grand to live in a house with cameras? Sign me up, mate. I’ve had worse flatmates for free.
