Jennifer and Nicky on equal pay for their ‘Stars’ turn
NEW ‘Dancing With The Stars’ host Jennifer Zamparelli has said there is no gender pay gap between herself and colleague Nicky Byrne.
The pair – who also host separate radio shows on 2FM – will be hosting the third series of the RTÉ hit show, which is due to begin in January.
Jennifer replaces Amanda Byram, who announced during the summer she was stepping down from the role. When asked if Westlife star Nicky would be getting a bigger pay cheque, Jennifer said it was “a given” that both would be paid the same.
“I think that is just known, it is a given,” she said.
“The only instance I’d have a problem with that is with the lads on the radio show, because I get paid more than them because I am better,” the ‘Breakfast Republic’ star joked.
“But with the dancing I was like ‘yeah of course it has to be the same’.”
The former BBC ‘Apprentice’ star – who, like Nicky, hails from Baldoyle in North Dublin – also revealed she beat Vogue Williams to the gig.
She bump into Vogue prior to the announcement yesterday morning.
“I don’t know who went for it, but I know now that Vogue went for it because I met her this morning and she was like, ‘you got the job I wanted’,” said Jennifer (38).
She added the interview process for the gig was far from easy.
“It was like a three-hour audition process with Nicky Byrne – I wasn’t complaining but it wasn’t an easy job,” she explained.
“I think the beauty of Amanda and what she did, she made it look effortless and easy and hopefully I can do that too.”
However, she is more than ready to put her own stamp on the job.
“You kind of have to. Me and Amanda are completely different people, different styles of presenting, so I think you have to be yourself,” said Jennifer.
“But there is probably going to be a big rulebook of things I can’t say that I will probably have to read over again before I start,” she added.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to working with Nicky.”