DWTS Contestant Says $350K Is Not Enough to Be on the Show

It’s a known fact that the celebrities who agree to appear on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars make a lot of money off it, what with the paycheck they get from the network and from subsequent deals they land because of their boosted public profile. It’s still not enough, one contestant says.

With rumors that Kate Gosselin was paid upwards of $500,000 to be on the show and that The Situation from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” got roughly the same amount, one former contestant confirms that that’s the going rate – more or less.

The insider, who is no longer on the show, tells PopEater that stars who sign on DWTS get about $350,000, but only on the condition that they make it in the final – and win.

Still, even if that’s a decent amount of money even for a celebrity, it’s not enough, the spy says: there is simply too much work to be done in too little time to make this a sweet deal.

When you think of it, after the show, it’s simply not worth it, the spy stresses.

“When you sign up, every contestant gets $150,000 for 6 weeks rehearsals and the first two shows. Then every week you survive you make an extra $10,000 then $20,000 then $30,000 and so on, so the winner takes home $350,000,” the former contestant reveals.

The principle that if something looks too good to be true, it most probably is, also applies to DWTS.

“The show doesn’t pay for massages or anything else. The amount of physical stress and strain they put your body through, rehearsing six days a week, eight hours a day, is ridiculous,” the spy explains.

“I have never worked so hard in my life. Our call time was 6:00 AM and we were rehearsing with the band by 8 and then live on the dance floor that evening. That’s a 12-hour day,” the tipster adds.

All in all, it’s not really worth it. Nevertheless, the former DWTS contestant doesn’t say a word about the deals that come from the boosted profile from being on the show – and we know that these too can amount to quite a hefty sum.