Even though Jersey Shore was a major hit during its original run, the people behind scenes didn’t have as much faith in the show’s prospects at the very beginning. Or at the very least, they just had a low budget during Season 1.
The show’s breakout star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi opened up about the show’s first season and how little they earned for putting their summer social lives on display.
In an interview with InStyle for the Money Talks column, Snooki revealed, “We would get $200 a week from the Shore Store.” Does that mean they weren’t actually paid as cast members on the show? The title of the InStyle article is “Snooki Got Paid in $200 Gift Cards The First Season Of Jersey Shore,” which was not specifically stated in the article, but maybe some of the conversation was excluded.
Snooki admitted, “I had never gotten that much in a week, like, every single week, because you usually get paid every two weeks.” This was long before reality TV stars had the opportunities to monetize their fifteen minutes of fame with sponsored posts on social media, so it really was a completely different time.
Things have definitely improved for Snooki since her first year on the show. She got her own spin-off show, she’s raking in the cash on Instagram and via her other businesses, she invests heavily in real estate and now she’s back in the reality TV game on Jersey Shore Family Vacation.
Check out Snooki’s full Money Talks interview here.
TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT SNOOKI & THE OTHER JERSEY SHORE CAST MEMBERS WERE ONLY PAID $200 WEEK FOR THE FIRST SEASON OF JERSEY SHORE?
[photo Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Extra]
