Stars of the biggest show in the world only got paid $3,500 an episode-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro

The stars of Baywatch have reflected on their time on the hit series, revealing that they were only paid $3,500 an episode.

The hugely popular program boasted more than 1billion viewers weekly and aired for 11 seasons between 1989 and 2001, with Pamela Anderson, David Hasselhoff, Jeremy Jackson, Carmen Electra, Yasmeen Bleeth and Billy Warlock among the cast.

It followed the goings on of the lifeguard unit who patrolled beaches in LA – with a spin-off set in Hawaii – and shot many of the stars to worldwide fame.

Despite the mammoth ratings, it turns out that the cast weren’t actually paid that much compared to what others in the industry were raking in at the time.

Appearing in a new Hulu documentary about the phenomenon, After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, actress Nicole Eggert recalled that they earned peanuts compared to fellow actors on Friends.

‘Back then, what they were offering everybody was about $3,500 a show. Friends at that point, I think they were each making $1million an episode,’ the star, who played Roberta ‘Summer’ Quinn, told the camera.

Nicole Eggert (L) and Pamela Anderson were among the cast (Picture: Getty)

The stars were paid peanuts compared to other actors at the time (Picture: Rex)

Shauni McClain star Erika Eleniak – who was one of the OG stars – continued: ‘I actually remember freaking out seeing my first paycheck after the taxes were taken out.

‘I was like, “What?! What just happened? How am I honestly going to live on this money?”’

‘There’s not one rich actor on Baywatch. Not one. That’s strange because the wealth is always shared when you’re on a hit TV show,’ Billy, who played Eddie Kramer, agreed.

Baywatch broke records with huge ratings in the 90s (Picture: Rex)

Following the first season on NBC, the series was initially cancelled but was able to survive through syndication and became wildly successful.

Co-creator Douglas Schwartz revealed that Baywatch raked in around 1.2billion viewers a week around the world, which made history as ‘the highest volume of viewers of any show ever in the history of television’.

It still holds the Guinness World Record for the series with the largest TV audience in 1996, drawing in more than 1,100,000,000 viewers.

Screenwriter Michael Berk explained that, although the show was a success, they were ‘on a shoestring budget’ behind the scenes, and ‘just couldn’t afford to pay’ the cast what they wanted.

David Hasselhoff expertly led the cast (Picture: Getty)

While Chris Connelly, a contributor for ABC News, said: ‘Baywatch made a lot of money, just not for the actors. They treated being on Baywatch like you were a college athlete. “Oh, you’ll make your money down the road. You’ll make your money because you became famous on Baywatch.’”

Instead, David, Carmen, Pamela and co had to think out of the box when it came to making money – turning to modelling and advertising brands to get paid.

‘I personally reached out to Adidas. I would personally pick up the phone,’ Jeremy Jackson laughed. ‘I really just think it was me capitalizing on an opportunity.

Traci Bingham, Donna D’Errico, Yasmine Bleeth, Gena Lee Nolin, Nancy Valen also hit the beach during the show’s run (Picture: Rex)

‘Coming from not being able to get whatever clothes I could, not being able to rock any shoes I wanted… I just took full advantage of that.

Carmen added: ‘It was about using Baywatch in a different way so the next thing you know, I’m getting paid appearances, to show up at clubs all over the world because of all these things.

‘It was easy money.’

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is available to watch on Hulu now.

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