Tonight, season 22 premieres on ABC, and you can bet that audiences at home will watch Dancing With The Stars thinking, “how much do these celebrities get paid?”
The longer a celeb contestant can stay on the show, the more money they stand to make.
Last season, mirror ball trophy winner Bindi Iriwin had a base salary of $ 125, according to documents obtained by People.
Weeks 3 and 4 saw her make $ 10,000, with each subsequent week seeing a compensation increase of $ 5,000.
Week 9 earned her an addition $ 30,000, and weeks 10 and 11 paid out $ 50,000 per week.
That…is a lot of money.
This season, Radar Online took a look at updated contracts for the cast, which includes Mischa Barton, Doug Flutie, Jodie Sweetin, Geraldo Rivera, Ginger Zee, Antonio Brown, Wanya Morris, Von Miller, Nye Dimarco, Marla Maples, Paige VanZant and Kim Fields.
“At least one celebrity was offered a baseline of $ 125,000 for the rehearsals, two weeks on the air before the first elimination, and an appearance at the finale,” the documents read.
“The document claims that beyond that point, contestants who manage to stick around get an extra week of pay for every week they are not eliminated. The grand total if they make it to the finals? It’s a potential $ 345,000!”
The show’s pitch letter brags about how much publicity the contestant will drum up by being part of a “national phenomenon,” and that he or she would be a fool not to accept.
Dancing With The Stars season 22 premieres tonight at 8pm on ABC.
