While many reality TV contestants leave their respective shows with flashy brand deals and a massive social media following, when you’re on the show, it’s a different kind of story.
Filming takes up roughly three months for MAFS contestants, which means three months of not working their regular jobs.
So how much do they get paid to be on the show? Well, there have been some varied experiences.
‘I am broke after having appeared on the show’
In early 2024, a season 11 contestant told The Daily Telegraph that they were “broke” after the season of MAFS finished.
The publication reported that the contestants were paid $150 a day and given $125 for food.
“I am broke after having appeared on the show. I couldn’t even make my rent payments with what we were being paid,” the anonymous cast member spilled.
Another anonymous cast member spilled to Yahoo! Lifestyle that they were paid $150 per day with a $128 weekly food allowance.
“All up you get $1,178. The way we are paid as ‘contributors’ and not as a proper job is how they can pay you so little,” they explained.
Some get paid more than others
It’s not always an even-playing field when it comes to the pay cheques though.
Speaking to Now To Love, season five groom Nasser Sultan said that certain contestants including Davina Rankin, who was part of the cheating scandal storyline with Dean Wells, pocketed a little bit more.
“Sarah [Roza] and a few others, like Davina [Rankin], got more money,” he revealed. “They got $50 more a day. Basically, the more you did for the show, the more you got.”
He also claimed that some of the brides would have freebies sent to them as well.
“The girls would message companies on Instagram and ask for free clothes to be sent to them, and so we’d be sitting there and these deliveries would show up.”
“Basically, they were getting everything that they wanted. If they cried, they got counselling, and to stay on the show, they asked for more money. It worked out really well for them.”
Telling all on social media
Several MAFS alumni have shared their experiences openly on their social media platforms.
2023 groom Jesse took to Instagram in May 2023, claiming participants were paid “$1,175 each week”.
But two of the brides from the previous year said that they were getting even less.
Olivia Frazer, who was one of the 2022 brides, said that she and her contestants were paid “$1,100 per week” on an Instagram Live, whilst her on-screen nemesis Domenica Calarco claimed she was paid $150 per day.
“I still had bills, had to pay my rent, and I had to pay, you know, whatever,” she said on a TikTok Live.
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