While viewers are set to be glued to the betrayals, banishments and backstabbing on this season of The Traitors Australia, Woman’s Day can reveal the real drama may have played out long before cameras started rolling.
According to a talent manager who represented one of this season’s cast members, appearance fees, not daily rates, were where the real fight happened.
“The appearance fee was where you needed to go hard when negotiating with Network Ten,” the talent manager tells Woman’s Day. “The daily rate wasn’t anything to get excited about.”
How much did The Traitors Australia cast get paid?
Reportedly, many of the smaller reality personalities on this season signed on for around $1,600 a day, with filming running for approximately 16 days for those who made it to the end.
That puts the maximum earnings for many cast members at around $25,600 before tax and management commissions – a far cry from what fans might expect. One contestant – eliminated first – is said to have walked away with just $1,600.
“It’s hardly the massive payday people assume reality TV stars are getting,” the insider says.
Did Dicko and Rhys Nicholson get paid more?
Not everyone, however, was playing on the same pay scale. Sources allege television veteran Ian “Dicko” Dickson and comedian Rhys Nicholson negotiated significantly higher appearance fees than many of their co-stars, reflecting their established profiles in the industry.
It’s also believed some contestants had contracts built with incentives – daily rates that increased the longer they stayed in the game, rewarding those who survived deeper into the competition.
“It really depended on who your manager was and how hard they negotiated,” the insider says.
Despite the relatively modest pay cheques, sources suggest the $250,000 prize money wasn’t the only motivator. For many contestants, the national exposure was worth just as much as the financial reward.
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