Big Brother stipends are the weekly payments that cast members receive for just appearing on the show. It’s not a secret that everyone is paid to play Big Brother, but the producers don’t often comment on any payments that don’t stem from winning the show or a Luxury Competition during the summer.
Appearing on a new podcast episode on Monday (July 12), Big Brother 19 cast member Elena Davies opened up that door about compensation. She got really specific about what she was paid to be on BB19, revealing some numbers that might shock some fans of the show.
Jason Tartick from The Bachelorette hosts a podcast called Trading Secrets and his guest for the episode that dropped on Monday was Elena Davies. They talked about a lot of different topics, including her appearance on Ex on the Beach for MTV, but Big Brother fans will certainly focus on her comments about weekly stipends.
For each week that someone is a member of a Big Brother cast, they are paid a stipend to appear on television. This gives the production team the ability to film them nearly 24/7 and use that footage to create content that will air on CBS. If a person quits the show or is evicted early, their payments come to an end.
How much did Elena Davis make from Big Brother stipends?
On the podcast episode (it’s linked below), Elena stated that she made $1,000 per week just to be a member of the Big Brother 19 cast. Even after she got evicted she kept getting paid, though, because she had become a member of the BB19 jury.
Even if someone has been sent out of the main house, if they are taking part in the jury filming, the payments keep on coming. Elena said that during her season of the show, she made $13,000 in Big Brother stipend payments. She also noted that she took home an additional $5,000 from a Luxury Competition, making it a pretty good summer for her financially.
In comparison, the Big Brother 19 winner, Josh Martinez, took home $500,000 for winning the show, while second-place finisher, Paul Abrahamian, netted a nice $50,000 for his efforts. Everyone else on the BB19 cast received at least a stipend, even if they went home before the jury started forming.
The Big Brother stipends have always been a good way for cast members to continue earning a paycheck, even while they are locked away in the Big Brother house. They likely make some additional money for special appearances done on behalf of the show as well.
Big Brother 23 has begun for summer 2021
A new season of Big Brother is underway and the second episode just aired on CBS. For this summer, the prize was increased to $750,000 for the person that becomes the Big Brother 23 winner. When she heard about that, Big Brother 13 winner Rachel Reilly said she wants to play on Big Brother 24.
There has already been some controversy for the BB23 cast, so this could become a very buzzworthy season as the summer rolls on.
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.