THE MASS WALKOUT NOBODY SAW COMING!
WELL-KNOWN GUEST COUCH CRITICS HAVE LEFT THE CAST DIVIDED
For years, our favourite Goggleboxers have made us laugh with their critiques of TV’S very best and worst offerings. However, New Idea hears big changes might be on the horizon, as several long-standing couch potatoes are increasingly unsettled by the celebrity newcomers!
Last week, Aussies settled in to watch the likes of the Irwin family and Hamish Blake with his wife, Zoë Foster Blake, in a special one-off celebrity episode. But while fans lapped it up, the regular Goggleboxers are said to be “utterly fuming”!
“The regular cast are set to storm the castle after celebrity guest stars’ salaries were leaked to the media,” tells one cast member, speaking to New Idea under the promise of anonymity.
It’s believed the ongoing debate between the show’s producers and the Gogglebox cast has fired up again with pay rises and contract conditions the main issues of contention.
“Hamish and Zoë have apparently landed a pay cheque that is simply unfair in the eyes of the entire cast – mostly the families who have been there since the start and get paid far less,” sneers the source.
“You can’t pay one person half a million dollars and then someone else $1200 – I don’t care who you are,” the series regular continues.
It is widely known that the cast of Gogglebox don’t get paid an actual talent fee.
It is believed the cast each get a $1200 payment – a location fee, which gets divided between the respective household.
What’s more, the Gogglebox cast, which includes favourites like Anastasia Katselas and Faye Kontos, and the Dalton family, are often encouraged to “avoid celebrity lifestyles” in a bid to maintain their “everyday people” personas.
It’s in stark contrast to the new celebrity armchair critics, which has seen Network Ten and Foxtel fork out big cash to lure in red-carpet regulars.
“Truthfully, there’s a growing disconnect with producers and the cast,” says the source.
“Time will tell, but if things don’t change, they will be forced to walk for good.”