Big Brother 23 houseguests are paid to play the game, earning weekly stipends to be part of the show. In exchange for those payments, CBS can film the BB23 cast members every moment that they are in the Big Brother house.
The weekly stipends typically only apply to people still on the show, so if someone gets evicted during the first five weeks of the season, they stop earning the weekly payments.
Unfortunately for them, Travis Long, Brandon “Frenchie” French, Whitney Williams, Brent Champagne, and Christian Birkenberger were the first five people sent home from the Big Brother 23 cast. Their stipends ended, but they should receive an appearance fee for taking part in the season finale.
This is why Big Brother casts are always very excited when the jury starts forming because the stipends continue even if a houseguest is living in the jury house. Making it to at least the BB23 jury meant thousands of additional dollars for everyone remaining in the game.
How much do Big Brother houseguests get paid to play the game?
The exact stipend that members of the BB23 cast are receiving has not yet been revealed, but one or more of them will likely reveal that information when the season comes to an end. What we do know is the information that former houseguests have passed on when speaking about appearing on the show.
Elena Davies did an interview where she said her Big Brother cast was paid $1,000 per week. She appeared on BB19, which was the season that Josh Martinez ended up winning and Paul Abrahamian finished in second place. Elena said that by making it to the BB19 jury, she earned $13,000 in stipend payments from that summer.
Cash prize for Big Brother 23 increased
There is a lot more on the line than just the Big Brother stipends this summer. The members of the BB23 cast have a shot at winning $750,000 by being the last person standing this season. It was a huge increase from the $500,000 awarded as recently as Big Brother 22.
When she heard about the huge increase to the prize fund, former Big Brother winner Rachel Reilly said she wanted to join the BB24 cast. That might be a lot of fun to see her play the game again. Rachel couldn’t appear on Big Brother: All-Stars 2 because she was pregnant.
There is still a long way to go until we find out the name of the Big Brother 23 winner, but no matter who wins this season, everyone who is still residing in the Big Brother house will be leaving the show with a nice paycheck.
Getting a stipend softens the blow for people who have to take time away from their real jobs to participate in the reality competition show. It certainly makes it easier for them not to worry about money while they are trying to play the game.
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.