If you’ve ever tuned into I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and wondered why on earth anyone would want to appear on the reality show, the answer is almost always because of the money. Channel 10 is known for splashing out the cash to get people to join the series, with Shane Warne rumoured to have been paid a massive $2 million in 2016.
The 2026 contestants’ salaries have now leaked online, and although they’re nowhere near Warnie’s pay cheque, I’d happily eat a bull’s penis for the same amount of money.
I’m A Celebrity 2026 salaries leak
While the contestants are treated equally in the camp — eating the same food, tackling the same challenges and rocking the same iconic red shirt, Akubra and boots — their salaries are anything but. An insider has revealed to Daily Mail that some of this year’s contestants are getting paid six figures, and others are earning so little that they’re “almost doing it for exposure”.
“There’s no such thing as equal pay on this show,” they said. “You’re not paid for suffering. You’re paid for perceived value.
“Budgets are tighter than people realise… So if you’re not considered essential, you’re offered a take-it-or-leave-it deal.”
According to the publication, former Brady Bunch star Barry Williams is the highest-paid contestant on a rumoured salary between $150,000 and $180,000.
Supermodel Rachel Hunter is reportedly the second-highest-paid celeb, earning between $140,000 and $170,000. Producers are definitely getting bang for their buck as she has already spilled bulk tea about her modelling career, marriage to Rod Stewart and iconic role in the “Stacy’s Mom” music video.
Logie-winning actor Garry Sweet, who starred alongside the show’s host Julia Morris in House Husbands for five years, is next on the list with a rumoured pay cheque between $110,000 and $140,000.
Singer Deni Hines is believed to be earning $100,000, while AFL star Dyson Heppell and former Neighbours actress Rebekah Elmaloglou are both said to be on salaries between $90,000 and $120,000.
Comedian Nath Valvo, who joked in Sunday night’s premiere that he went on I’m A Celebrity because he’s “poor” and “stand-up comedy does not pay well”, has reportedly been paid between $80,000 and $100,000.
Fellow comedian and radio host Concetta Caristo and BookTok star Luke Bateman are both believed to be sitting in the lower bracket, earning between $70,000 and $90,000.
And rounding out the cast is influencer Mia Fevola, who is reportedly the lowest-paid cast member on a salary between $40,000 and $60,000. It might not look like much compared to her co-stars, but it’s a big jump from her reported salary of $27,000 on last year’s season of Dancing With The Stars.
It’s important to note that all of these salaries are simply rumours and should be taken with a grain of salt, and PEDESTRIAN.TV has contacted Channel 10 for comment.
However, Mia’s dad (and the show’s 2016 winner), Brendan “Fev” Fevola, is one of the few contestants who has publicly shared details about the show’s salaries and explained that you get more money the longer you stay in the jungle.
“In 2015 I got paid $250,000 upfront, and then $5,000 every show after the [first] two weeks,” he said on The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick. “So you’d lay there on a Sunday and you’d think, ‘There’s another 7 days, there’s $35,000, boom. Hopefully, they don’t have an eviction during the week’.”
Robert Irwin’s I’m A Celebrity salary leaks
If you’re wondering how much the show’s host, Robert Irwin, is being paid this season, the Dancing With The Stars champ is said to be on a $3 million salary.
“That’s genuinely the ballpark he’s playing in now,” an insider told New Idea. “A lot of American shows approaching him are hovering around that figure.”
The figure is a HUGE jump from his first season, when he reportedly earned more than $430,000 for his six-week appearance, according to Daily Mail. It’s unknown exactly how much money his co-host, Julia Morris, is on, but it was rumoured in 2023 that she was paid around $700,000 per season.
Sheesh!
