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Yvie Jones on Gogglebox exit: “We were losing money”

"Restrictive" conditions and a location fee only, meant other opportunities were turned down.

Former Goggleboxer Yvie Jones has spoken again about her decision to leave the show with friend Angie Kent.

She told the Herald Sun, “We couldn’t endorse anything, we couldn’t tag anyone (on social media), there were no affiliations.

“I respect that, but cover us financially.

“There’s no appearance fee for being on the show, they don’t pay you — you get a location fee. Your house gets the fee. We were losing money.

“We were getting offers we weren’t able to take. It was extremely restrictive. It would have been fine had we been remunerated.”

Jones has been a regular on Studio 10 and is about to fill in for Fifi Box on Fox FM radio. She was also runner-up on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Various other appearances have included Sunday Night Takeaway & Celebrity Name Game while Angie Kent will be the next Bachelorette.

Foxtel has kept the cast on a tight leash in order to keep the cast as low key as possible, due to the show’s common-man premise.

Earlier this year Foxtel Executive Director of Television Brian Walsh said he was disappointed to read a press interview by the duo, telling TV Tonight “… I was incredibly disappointed that they were critical of Foxtel and the appearance fee money we paid them to do Gogglebox. I thought that was unfair, unnecessary and unwarranted.”

Both Jones & Kent left the Foxtel / 10 series with nothing planned.

“Had we known how much was out there and how wanted we were, we probably would have left a lot earlier,” she continued.

“Saying that, we still miss Gogglebox. We still wish we could be a part of it. It’s such a shame we couldn’t come to some kind of agreement.”

20 Responses

  1. I would hope the goggleboxers get paid a generous hourly rate for the time they spend watching TV for the show. That way it would be like any other job and if participants are seeking fame and fortune or additional income by way of sponsorship then it’s not the job for them.

  2. On the one hand you could parallel this to a gig on community radio – apart from free Nescafe in the tea room you don’t get paid but you have no restrictions on what you do outside (on your own behalf, not representing the station of course). But this isn’t community radio, it’s commercial TV. Given the time commitment of the cast, their importance to the program and value of the show to the broadcasters it does sound unfair to the participants if they are losing money by doing it but are not allowed to monetise their celebrity or be compensated for not being able to do that.

  3. What didn’t they have full time jobs as the majority of the rest certainly do… they git recognised via the show if they had not been picked out of obscurity they still be there, good luck with what they do next but we won’t be watching or listening to any of their shows

  4. The only way for the producers to keep the “common-man” premise of the cast is to re cast it each series with new unknown people. The fact that they don’t do this proves they actually do know the value of having recognisable faces and household names commenting on the programs. They know that viewers all have their favourite families and tune in to see how Mick and Di, The Silbery’s, Symon and Adam, Lee and Keith, The Jackson’s, The Dalton’s, Anastasia and Faye, The Delpechitra’s etc are all going to react. Sure, pay them a pittance when they are unknown, but once they become household names in their own right and viewers tune in just to see them, their value increases and they should be compensated accordingly. The show is quite successful now and producers can ask for more money now for licencing and advertising, so why should it be just the producers who benefit out of this?…

  5. A year ago it was mentioned here about what the Goggleboxers get paid and I mentioned they didn’t get paid at all apart from costs associated with the show.

    Even you David said I was wrong about that, well look who was right all along!

    1. Yep still not buying it to be honest, and feel it is semantics. Unless a landlord / landlady is taking the location fee then the cast are remunerated however we carve it up. Nobody makes TV for 8, 9, 10 seasons out of the goodness of their heart.

  6. This seems disrespectful to the show that made them. Without Gogglebox they would still be unrecognizable. I get that they feel like they should of been paid better, but i also get that the point that Googlebox shouldnt be used as a platform for the cast to become quasi famous. I dont think any of the other cast members have used the show as a platform to attempt stardom.

    This feels like a entitled version of what came first the chicken or the egg. and without the platform Gogglebox gave them they would not have the opportunities they currently do.

  7. “Had we known how much was out there…” The only reason the opportunities have come Angie and Yvie’s way is because of Gogglebox. Perhaps be more appreciative of that fact rather than bite the hand that gave you an awful lot of exposure.

  8. Fair play to Gogglebox for breaking new Australian talent, and sticking to their own rules to maintain their brand.

    No one would watch a celebrity version of Gogglebox.

  9. 10 would also be giving them a lot of airtime because they can hire them on the cheap relative to more established personalities (and with their dismal primetime share of late, they would want to be as frugal as possible), and I very much doubt that the girls have said no to anything that 10 have thrown at them so far.

    They are personable and very girl-next-door-like, but I think it’s irresponsible to give such people a platform to discuss more pressing issues on the likes of Studio 10 and The Project where their lack of perspective and knowledge on a wide range of issues becomes apparent.

    Their claim to fame is very much akin to what plays out in the Frontline episode “She’s Got The Look”, where an attractive young female personality is given a journalism role to the chagrin of more qualified talent. Life imitating art once again?

  10. Well, good on them two…hopefully Foxtel & 10 will get their act together with Gogglebox and pay the remaining cast a bit more, just for their own sakes and remuneration.

  11. I think the “Had we known how much was out there and how wanted we were, we probably would have left a lot earlier” comment is a bit cheeky although I’m not sure how much earlier she means. The time they spent on Gogglebox allowed them to grow their image and “celebrity” over the years which probably allowed the rest to follow with the scope it has.

  12. She still doesn’t seem to understand the show at all. As you said it is all about the ‘common man premise’. Otherwise it just becomes 20 to 1.

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