Cash in with panto?
A HOST of celebrities are set to miss out on pay cheques of up to £220,000 after pantos were called off this Christmas.
Shows across the UK have been axed because of the pandemic.
Guidelines on social distancing have made it impossible b e to stage the festive specctaculars and still ill make a profit.
The decision to scrap them means ns big-name stars are re missing out on n bumper paydays.
Strictly’s Craig g Revel Horwood, d, 55, was set to be e one of the country’s highest-paid panto stars in Cinderella at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton.
When the show was pulled, he lost out on £100,000. His co-stars Debbie McGee, 61, and Sooty puppeteer Richard Cadell, 51, were also due five-figure fees.
Birds Of A Feather star Linda Robson, 62, lost out after the Theatre Royal in St Helens,
Merseyside, axed its production of Cinderella this year. Among other top names to lose bigmoney deals is Neighbours legend Jason Donovan, 52.
Last month w we revealed that Str Strictly judge Sh Shirley Ballas, 59, wo would miss out on a£ a £100,000 payday afte after Blackpool’s Win Winter Gardens scr scrapped plans for its first panto
6T in 60 years.
Top celebs earn up to £220,000 a sea season. For local ven venues, it is the mos most lucrative time of the year.
B Bosses at the UK’s largest l t pantomime company Qdos blamed the Government.
They said: “We had been very clear that we required clarity from the Government regarding the reopening of theatres by August 3 in order for our pantomime season, as we know it, to take place.
“Based on the Secretary of State
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s reiteration that the Government won’t be providing further guidance on theatres operating without social distancing until November at the earliest, we are left with no choice but to begin the consultation process with our partner theatres about the viability of each show.”
Coronavirus has left the entire theatre industry in turmoil.
Hit musical The Phantom Of The Opera has closed for good after 34 years and other shows are expected to suffer the same fate.