How Holly’s TV producer husband is coining it in from Gladiators revamp – twice
THE TV mogul married to Holly Willoughby has already profited from a lucrative BBC deal to make the revamped Gladiators.
And now producer Dan Baldwin has found a way to make even more money from the Saturday night hit – by setting up a talent agency to represent almost all of the show’s hottest new stars.
At least 12 of the 16 Gladiators have signed up to his company, Hungry Bear Talent, giving him a cut of future earnings as their fame explodes on the back of their BBC appearances.
Those on his books include heartthrob Alex Gray, known as Apollo on the show, Crossfit champion Emily Steele, aka Dynamite, Olympic sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who is Nitro, and 6ft 5in Jamie Christian Johal, aka Giant.
With Gladiators attracting more than eight million viewers per episode, the stars are inundated with offers of endorsement deals and appearance offers.
One TV insider said: ‘Dan made the reboot with his company, sold it to the BBC for a lot of money and now he has shrewdly signed up some of its most popular young stars.
‘Whatever they make now, he will get extra money via the management company. Some might think that is a little greedy. The BBC isn’t supposed to be a shop window for Dan to cash in on,’ they said.
Baldwin, 48, launched the talent agency last year after signing the BBC deal to remake Gladiators, 24 years after the original series aired on UTV.
He founded Hungry Bear Media in 2014, and it has produced Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, Breaking Dad, The Wheel and Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof, which Ms Willoughby presented.
The couple marred in a stunning ceremony at Amberley Castle in West Sussex in 2007 and now have three children together.