Stars from the old Gladiators have opened up about their paycheck and, according to one show star, the sum was incredibly low.
The popular game show originally aired on ITV in 1992 and ran until January 2000. At the height of the show’s success, the Gladiators received a lot of attention from fans and lived the high life.
However, despite helping make the show a huge hit, their low income has since been highlighted.
Old Gladiators paid ‘peanuts’
Michael Van Wijk, also known as Wolf, recently revealed that he earned as little as £500 per show.
“It was quite bizarre really because the actual show itself paid peanuts,” he said. “It was minor. I made more from my gyms than I did from the show. What it did give you was the exposure, and that’s when you get the spin-offs.
“They controlled a really tight ship,” Michael added, claiming the name Wolf belonged to them, meaning they took 25% if anything went through the show.
ED! has contacted ITV for comment.
Warren’s life came ‘crashing down into the real world’
During an appearance on This Morning in November 2019, Warren Furman, also known as Ace, explained what it was like going back to normality.
Insisting that his life “crashing down into the real world”, Warren mentioned he used to earn £2k an hour. Since the show, he said he’s “lucky” if he was to earn £20 an hour.
“When you’ve had something like that and it’s taken away from you and you’re not earning a living out of it anymore, and all people want to know is daft stuff – well it seemed daft because now I wasn’t earning any money,” he told former hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
He continued: “Then people are coming over like: ‘What’s Ulrika like? What’s Wolf like?’ and in the end I was a bit like: ‘I’m not actually public property any more, I’m just trying to make a living, so I don’t really want to talk about it any more.’
“I know that sounds conceited, but I felt like I was living in the past.”
Read more: All the scandal and tragedy that’s embroiled the original cast of Gladiators
Gladiators is on BBC One Saturday (January 27) at 5.50pm.
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