When Geordie Shore first hit our screens back in 2011 (yep, it really has been ten years), the MTV show made instant stars out of the likes of Gaz Beadle, Charlotte Crosby, Vicky Pattison and Holly Hagan.
The Geordie OGs were suddenly everywhere from magazine front covers to every swanky red carpet event under the sun, not mention nightclubs up and down they country as they got paid to party, but it turns out their lives weren’t quite as glamorous as it seems.
While it’s easy to assume that the gang of radgies raked it in for appearing on Geordie Shore, Sophie Kasaei has revealed that that was not the case at all…
Opening up her time on the show in the early days, she admitted, "When we first started the show we got absolutely nothing.
“The most we ever got was £1000 a month and we couldn’t survive on that, obviously after tax as well."
She went on to explain that most of the cast worked at a call centre but it was easier for the boys to earn money compared to the girls.
"The boys were earning quite a lot of money from cash jobs, doing things like one hour of photos with fans and earning thousands and they were killing it," she said on the False Economy podcast.
"But us girls were in big financial difficulty. There was no social media so we couldn’t make money from that - we had nothing.
“We struggled for a while, and got credit cards and all that kind of thing. But things did change and then the girls started to make some money.”
And while they may have been on one of the most popular reality shows, Sophie admitted that money wise things were not great.
"What makes it worse is even though I had £5 in the bank everyone watching me thinks I am a multimillionaire right now and they think I’m loaded and have everything they ever wanted but I’m probably a lot more skint than the local Joe Bloggs down the street.
“No one would know until I’ve told you now, and we need to be more open about this because people think they can do reality shows and make so much money but it’s tough."
Luckily she's managed to turn her financial situation around after investing her mum. However Sophie isn't the old cast member who has spoken out about their earnings.
In fact, Gary, who has retired from his wild former lifestyle and is now settled down with wife Emma McVey and their two children, Chester, three, and Primrose, two, recently revealed the cast didn’t get paid at all for the first series.
He opened up about his Geordie Shore earnings during an Instagram Q&A with fans, when one follower asked whether taking part in the show was the highest-paying job he’s ever had. Gaz replied, “Hahahah u crazy it was the least paid more like 😂 we didn’t get paid for series 1… got penny’s for series 2/3.”
He continued, “Got better later on… but it was up to you what u made outside of Gshore. That’s how some ppl did well and others didn’t.”
CHECK OUT: Geordie Shore's most iconic moments
Geordie Shore's most iconic moments - SLIDER
1 of 16Holly gives Gaz a kiss on the penis
18-year-old Holly Hagan literally ran into the Geordie Shore house, excited to spend her teenage years exploring what the 'adult world' was really like and she really did get stuck in. It wasn't long into the first series before Gary Beadle had got out his penis, which Holly decided she wanted to kiss. Random, we know. Since then, Holly has dished the dirt on that encounter, after Gary said his penis resembled a "Sky remote control." Speaking to heat, she revealed, "It's not that big really."
2 of 16Sophie's 'chlamydia' moment
How could we have forgotten this? After Sophie Kasaei got into a relationship with DJ Joel Corry, it wasn't long before she started to miss her beau. But when he surprised her by visiting the house, Sophie whisked Joel to the bedroom after a night out for some alone time and it seemed like Sophie was really enjoying herself. Cue one of the most iconic moments in Geordie Shore history. Sophie decided to show how much she was enjoying herself by seductively saying, "Chlamydia", in Joel's ear.
3 of 16Vicky spits in Jay's face
As series one progressed, the first house romance had been ignited between Vicky Pattison and Jay Gardner, with the pair deciding to share a room from day one. It looked like things were going swimmingly, until the pair got into a huge fight and ended up calling off their short-lived romance. In the midst of the fighting, Vicky then spat her drink in Jay's face, leaving him fuming. Vicky has since called her behaviour "disgusting and unnecessary."
4 of 16Holly dumps Dan outside a sofa shop in a retail park
It seems like a long time ago but Holly actually entered the Geordie Shore house with a boyfriend called Dan. However, their relationship soon broke down and Holly wanted to dump her lover. Obviously, in true reality TV style, the cameras followed Holly as she headed to end the relationship, filming her arguing with Dan then dumping him outside a sofa shop in a retail park. Ouch.
5 of 16Charlotte weeing on Gaz
Ever since Charlotte Crosby and Gary got together, they were the ultimate Geordie Shore couple. Whilst they broke up more times than we've had hot dinners, they were firm fan favourites from the beginning. So after Charlotte and Gary had done the deed in Ricci Guarnaccio's nana's bed (so many questions), Charlotte farted to stop the awkwardness between the pair. Noting Gary's utter disgust, Charlotte found it all so funny that she just starting weeing…all over him, the bed and herself.
6 of 16Vicky and Ricci get engaged
After Ricci entered the house in series 2, he swept Vicky off her feet, despite her having a boyfriend at the time. However, she eventually finished with him to be with Ricci, who eventually popped the question during the show's Chaos in Cancun series. This was much to the surprise of everyone, as their relationship was extremely fiery. The engagement was short-lived, with the pair calling it off months after and Ricci then left the show to go on Celebrity Big Brother.
7 of 16Ricky proposes to Marnie
And from one Ricky to the next, can you remember when ex-TOWIE star Ricky Rayment proposed to Marnie Simpson on the show? Again, this was a huge surprise to viewers, as the pair had only been officially dating for six months. Their engagement also didn't last long, with the pair splitting three months later.
8 of 16Charlotte and Marnie's fight
There's been plenty of fights over the years in the Geordie Shore house but this one takes top place. The fight between the two firecrackers broke out after Marnie stirred the pot after kissing Chloe Ferry's beau Marty McKenna. Obviously, Chloe went pure radge because she'd already 'bucked' him and then Charlotte got involved, leading to security having to pull them all apart. Charlotte then called Marnie "a big flirty slag with really long confusing hair." Savage.
9 of 16Aaron tells Marnie he loves her
Marnie and Aaron Chalmers' relationship was very on and off, with the pair loving each other one minute then ripping each others heads off the next. Can you remember when they got caught having sex in a factory's kitchen? But it seemed like it was true love for the pair, as after going back and forth, Aaron finally admitted he loved Marnie. Yet, it took him a while to get there as before he said those precious three words, he responded to Marnie admitting her love for him by responding, "I like your hair." Awkward.
10 of 16When Nathan wee'd on the stairs
It shouldn't have been hilarious but it was. One of our iconic moments was when Nathan Henry decided he needed to have a wee and couldn't hold it in so wee'd on the stairs. And if this wasn't funny enough, Chloe and Sam Gowland then ran up the stairs not knowing what he had done and fell into his luke warm piss. Lovely.
11 of 16Chloe fighting a tree
Ever since Chloe burst onto our screens, her wild personality has made her a firm fan favourite, as well as all the questionable things she does whilst filming. However, this has to be one of her funniest moments when she started a fight with a tree because she believed the tree 'wanted to fight'. You simply cannot write these things.
12 of 16Chloe sent home after starting on Zahida
In one of the show's most recent series, the OG castmates saw around 10 new faces turn up at the house, after their boss Anna wanted to employ some new workers. However, with new faces comes new drama and new girl Zahida Allen got frisky with Marty in the back of a taxi. What Zahida didn't realise was how volatile Chloe and Marty's on-off relationship was and their late night antics sent Chloe wild, and she attacked Zahida, having to be pulled apart by security. Chloe was booted from the show but returned later on in the series.
13 of 16Scotty T’s threesome gets interrupted
Scotty T thought he was going to have the night of his life when he brought home two women for a threesome... on a waterbed. However, he instead got summoned out of his bed to speak with Gaz for a deep convo. Better luck next time Scott.
14 of 16Back of the taxi orgy
When you thought you'd seen it all, you really hadn't until this moment. An orgy in the back of a taxi. TV gold. After the crew had been partying wild in the town centre, they were all heading back home to the Geordie Shore house. Bored, and very drunk, one of the cast members suggesting having an orgy, which they all were keen on (except Chloe who's alseep at the back). Marnie and Scotty T get carried away and passionately kiss, leaving Aaron fuming and he leaves the house.
15 of 16Chloe goes plant pot crazy
How can we forget Nathan deciding he wants a calm and peaceful bath to then be rudely awakened by a drunk Chloe raiding the bathroom with only one thing in sight - the plants. As she goes plant pot crazy, she swings the pot around with dirt going aboloutely everywhere, turning the clean bathroom into a soiled mess.
16 of 16The Abbie, Chloe and Sam love triangle
Abbie Holburn kept it no secret that she fancied Sam when former Love Islander turned up as one of the new cast members. However, Chloe also had her eyes set on the hunky lad, meaning they found themselves at logger heads. After the pair fought it out over several episodes, Sam decided to pick Chloe as they were more similar, leaving Abbie upset.
Perhaps Gaz is referring to his former pulling partner Scotty T who was declared bankrupt in 2019 after he racked up a debit in excess of £147,000.
Scotty was worth an estimated £630,000 at the height of his fame thanks to his appearances on Celebrity Big Brother, Ex on the Beach, Aussie soap Neighbours, Just Tattoo of Us and a deal with Boohoo Man.
But things went downhill for the reality star when he was axed from Geordie Shore in 2017 for “bad behaviour” and later lost his presenting role on Just Tattoo of Us after just one series.