From The X Factor to TOWIE, 15 minutes of fame has created years of stardom for many reality TV stars.
While years ago stars like Gemma Collins and Amber Gill were unheard of, they are now some of the biggest stars in the country, and the biggest earners.
From Little Mix to Mark Wright and Gemma Collins to Gaz Beadle, many people have turned their time on TV into big money, thanks to book deals, TV contracts, Instagram collaborations and salaries paid to them from their own companies, according to The Sun.
Here’s the rundown…
1. Little Mix – £50M
Taking top spot is the biggest girl band in the UK Little Mix who added £5m to their wealth in the past year.
The girls took the The X Factor crown in 2011 and since then have produced five hit albums.
Jesy Nelson, 29, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 28, Jade Thirlwall, 27, and Perrie Edwards, 27 are each worth roughly £12.5m.
They have made their fortune thanks to their endorsements plus lucrative tours and album sales.
They have their names to everything from Gold Magic perfume and Schwarzkopf hair dye.
Their company, Eternal Dance Media Ltd, launched in 2011 to handle their music, has assets of £4.3m. while another company, Eternal Magic Touring Ltd had assets of £1.6m in 2019.
Last September they embarked on a world tour that earned them a staggering £30m.
2. Spencer Matthews – £21M
Made In Chelsea lothario Spencer has upped his own worth by a staggering £10m in the past year.
Spencer worked as a city trader, earning £100k a year when he debuted on the show in 2011.
The hunk left the show in 2015 and then featured in various reality shows including The Bachelor UK in 2012 and I’m A Celeb in 2015.
Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law made his cash due to canny property investments, plus his role as founder and CEO of The Clean Liquor Co – one of the UK’s fastest- growing start-ups, which saw it sales rocket 700% in lockdown.
The company which specialises in low-alcohol booze is to expand into the US next year.
3.Mark Wright – £11M
The former TOWIE hunk’s net worth has increased £2m this year as a result of his property portfolio.
Mark has converted his Essex mansion into six two-bed flats, worth £5m in all.
He has also demolished a £1.3m farmhouse in Essex, where he and actress wife Michelle Keegan, 33, plan to build their dream home.
Together they are planning on launching fashion label Mysa Active soon. It comes after Mark set up an online workout business, Train Wright, in May, which is tipped to be a money-spinning operation.
In 2017 Mark earned a small fortune interviewing A-listers including Kim Kardashian on US show Extra in LA.
He earns £10k a go for DJ gigs , and his agency The Wright Look Models Ltd had £1.2m assets last year.
4. Samantha Faiers -£9.8M
Former TOWIE star Sam landed £500k to become the face of Oreo cookies but has a wealth of other successful business ventures before that.
She also runs fashion outlet Saint Avenue with partner Paul Knightley, 32, which raked in £182k in 2019.
Sam also has a baby clothing range My Little Darlin which is hugely succesful.
Sam and sister Billie Shepherd landed £250k each to star in ITVBe series The Mummy Diaries.The pair also made another £150k each from the show’s sponsor, Carex.
She has also raked in £750k from three bestselling books, as well as a bumper £250k deal with Pampers,and last month she ploughed in £350k of her own money to establish skincare brand Revive Collagen.
Her homeware line fetches £1m annually and is one of Next’s bestselling ranges.
5. Ollie Locke – £7M
Made in Chelsea star Ollie is worth a fortune thanks to shrewd investment and property assets.
Following his MIC debut in 2011, Ollie appeared in 2014’s CelebrityBig Brother for a rumoured £100k.
Next he landed £200k as he sought on romance on Celebs Go Dating in 2018.
After that set up gay dating app Chappy in 2017, after announcing his engagement to business consultant Gareth Locke, 30. He later cashed out a year later for around £1m.
Ollie also earns big money on Insta – where he can command up to £2k for sponsored Insta posts.
He also earned six figures for his bestselling autobiography Laid In Chelsea and children’s novel The Islands Of Fandye.
6. Joey Essex – £6.9M
Joey shot to stardom on TOWIE in 2011 and has been one of the show’s most successful stars.
The hunk got a whopping £250k to appear in The Jump in 2015 – a show he won and then notched up another £60k for I’m A Celeb in 2013.
According to then accounts for his company Joey Essex Management Ltd he had assets of £570k in February.
His cash has been made as a result of selling fragrances from his haircare range, his autobiography Being Reem, plus singles and an Essex Anthems album.
After his initial two-year stint on TOWIE, he returned to show August to film the show’s 10-year anniversary series.
He has also appeared on MTV’s Ex On The Beach in January and C4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in April.
7. Rylan Clark-Neal – £6.3M
The former X Factor star’s company Rylan Ltd shows current assets of £1.4m – which is an increased of £800k on last year.
Rylan is a household name on TV screens and has appeared on many shows including Ready Steady Cook, You Are What You Wear, This Morning and Celebrity Gogglebox with mum.
He also hosts the remake of TV classic Supermarket Sweep, which has been such a hit that it moved from ITV2 to the main channel.
As a co-presenter on Strictly: It Takes Two with Zoe Ball he earns an eye-watering £200k.
His biggest windfall came in 2013, when he won Celebrity Big Brother and was handed £250k.
Outside of TV and radio, he owns plush home fragrance line Luxenoa, available on QVC, which this year showed a net worth of £68k compared to just £1 in 2019
As well as being a keen investor, he has begun attracting big brand deals, collecting up to £3k for Insta posts with the likes of Flora, Just Eat and Wren Kitchens.
8. Tommy Mallet – £5.4M
TOWIE star Tommy’s Mallet’s assets were registered as £2.4m in 2019 and his range is now out-selling Michael Kors.
His trainers and a range of casual clothing are now stocked across Europe, including high-end retailers like Selfridges and Harrods.
A host of celebs are fans of his range of trainers including David Beckham, Drake and Craig David , which typically cost between £150 and £195.
The footwear has turned heads in the fashion world – making its debut at Paris Fashion Week last year and being flaunted at London Fashion Week.
9. Olivia & Alex Bowen – £5M
The Love Island sweethearts appeared in the second series in 2016 and since then they’ve earned £500k between them each year.
Accounts for their four companies posted assets of £346k in 2019.
The pair have become at least £200k richer through TV work, including last year’s Olivia & Alex: Happily Ever After and their couple’s fashion label, Exempt Society, is tipped top earn them £950k by 2022,
Olivia can earn up to £16k per Instagram ad and accounts for their four companies posted assets of £346k in 2019, according to reports.
Olivia is an ambassador for brands including W7, Skin Republic, Batiste and Eleventh Hour Beauty.
She makes considerable about of cash in posts for brands like Boux Avenue and Missy Empire, while Alex has landed modelling work with Boohoo Man, Hype and Gym King in deals thought to be worth around £200k.
It is also thought he racked up £700k from a nightclub tour.
10. Gaz Beadle – £4.9M
Gaz joined Geordie Shore in 2011 and stayed until 2017 before making two series of Ex On The Beach and Hell’s Kitchen Australia.
The dad of two has pooled a fortune thanks to his property portfolio and the nightclub he owns, Pure beach club in Zante.
His 11 Degrees clothing range also makes him considerable money and was valued at £1.85m last year and he makes money from a fat-loss scheme under the name of Smart Nutrition
Gary Beadle Promotions posted a net worth of £675k last year.
The reality TV star has 3.6m Instagram followers and can earn up to £10k for brand posts with Hey Silky Skin, and similar for PAs.
Who else made the list?
11. James Arthur- £4.8M
12.Gemma Collins – £4.7M
13.Billie Shepherd – £4.6M
14. Megan McKenna – £3.8M
15.Lucy Mecklenburgh – £3.75M
16.Nadiya Hussain – £3.7M
17. Amy Childs – £3.3M
18. Vicky Pattison – £3.2M
19.Charlotte Crosby – £3M
20. Dani Dyer – £2.4M
21. Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury – £2.4M
22. Ferne McCann – £2.2M
23. Amber Gill – £2.1M
24. Megan Barton -Hanson, 26 – £2M