Netflix’s newest (and debatably most cringe-worthy) reality show, Byron Baes, dropped on Wednesday and is set right in our backyard, erm, Byron Bay.
The cast is made up of some former Love Island and Bachelor stars, as well as a number of “influencers” who generally all have less than 10,000 Instagram followers each.
But, while these ‘stars’ may not be raking in the money in on Instagram spon-con, it sounds like they got a pretty good payday from Netflix itself.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, former The Bachelor star Nathan Favro hinted that he made bank on the reality deal.
“We were paid handsomely, Netflix look after you,” he said.
“It was more a case of we were all a team and we were all working together and so they gave us a lot of creative direction, they wanted to actually tell the story of our lives and what we are doing,” Favro added.
Influencer Jade Kevin Foster (who may or may not have 1.2 million legit followers), agreed with Favro adding: “They were very generous.”
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While neither influencer named an example number, a “source” told the same publication that cast members were paid generously for everyday expenses while filming.
“Talent were all paid the same out-of-pocket expense to appear on the show, which was less than $500 a day to cover off work and living costs,” the insider said.
When the reality show was first announced, locals in Byron Bay banded together in protest, urging the streaming service to cancel the show.
Members of the community, including the owners of Byron institutions the Byron Bay General Store and No Bones restaurant, hosted an emergency meeting in an attempt to combat the series from filming. Byron shire mayor, Simon Richardson, has also appealed to the council — asking it to oppose the production.
“We’ve almost got a Truman Show-type portrayal of who we are where everything is quite idyllic and superficial, where out the back it’s an empty parking lot,” Cr Richardson said. “We’ve got a community that is in real stress, we’ve got a community that has real life issues dealing with housing, work, affordability.”
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