A former “Big Brother” houseguest revealed how much money the cast makes while competing for the show’s grand prize.
Elena Davies, who was a contestant on Season 19 of the CBS reality series in 2017, revealed in a new interview that each cast member receives a weekly stipend — with a catch.
“We’re paid a stipend per week. $1,000 per week, as long as you film,” Davies, 30, said on Monday’s episode of “Bachelorette” alum Jason Tartick’s “Trading Secrets” podcast.
“Say you are the first person sent home and you only film six hours in the house, you get your thousand.”
Davies went on to explain that even though she was evicted from the “Big Brother” house on day 58, she “technically” filmed the whole season.
“I got paid the entire 13 weeks stipend or whatever,” she said. “It was $1,000 a week, but I also won a competition that was a luxury comp.”
That luxury comp added an extra $5,000 to her “salary,” which means she banked $18,000 in just over three months. To put that into perspective, it would equal the income of someone making approximately $72,000 a year.
In comparison, “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” contestants do not get paid, as Page Six previously reported.
Every season, “Big Brother” houseguests take part in weekly competitions and evictions to stay in the house. They are completely cut off from the outside world — with no phones, internet or contact with family and friends.
Occasionally, the houseguests participate in a luxury competition, as Davies mentioned, where they have a chance to win additional prizes such as money and vacations.
Typically, the grand prize for the winner is $500,000. But this year, CBS upped that amount to a whopping $750,000.
Meanwhile, it’s been speculated that “Big Brother” host Julie Chen rakes in $3 million per season, which breaks down to approximately $75,000 an episode, according to Cinemaholic.