WHEN it comes to reality TV, it is normally the contestants who are desperate not to be voted out.
But sometimes, it is the celebrity stars who face the axe – much to the shock of fans.
AJ Odudu was one of the hosts of Big Brother’s Bit on the Side before she was randomly axed[/caption]
Arlene Phillips was fired from Strictly Come Dancing, plunging the show into a huge crisis[/caption]
Tulisa became a judge on The X Factor but was replaced after just two seasons[/caption]
Whether it be the main show host, judges, coaches it seems no-one is safe from a dramatic reality TV exit.
We take a look at the celebs who were eliminated early.
AJ Odudu
In 2013, AJ Odudu thought she was flying high. Aged 25, the Blackburn-born and bred star had bagged her dream job presenting Big Brother’s Bit on the Side.
But her dreams were cut short – just six months later, she was axed from the show, while her co-hosts Rylan Clarke and Emma Willis were not.
Devastated AJ moved back in with her dad and took jobs at call centres and clothes shop to make ends meet, her presenting dream in tatters.
She said: “I thought that was it for me. It was going to go series to series, strength to strength and when it didn’t work out that was I was absolutely devastated. I was crushed. It more than stung. I cried for months.”
But plucky AJ has had the last laugh. She dusted herself down and kept plugging away at her TV dream.
She shone on Strictly Come Dancing with pro partner Kai Widdrington in 2021 and made it all the way to the final until she had to pull out the day before with a torn ankle ligament.
And then in the ultimate comeback she was announced as the host of the main Big Brother show alongside Will Best.
She told The Times: “It’s amazing how that door closed on me, then ten years later it’s like I’ve come back to own the whole building.”
Sir Tom Jones
Sir Tom Jones was shockingly fired from The BBC’s version of The Voice[/caption]
Fellow pop icon Boy George was drafted in as his replacement[/caption]
Showbiz legend Sir Tom was one of the original coaches on the BBC version of The Voice when it debuted in 2012.
But he was dropped by the Beeb after four series and replaced at short notice by Boy George.
The Delilah singer said he was left “shocked” by the news.
In his 2016 autobiography Over The Top and Back, he explained: “To say I was shocked is to put it mildly. But my shock wasn’t about the fact they had replaced me. My shock was about the way they did it.”
Tom went on to admit “nobody has the right to think of themselves as a permanent fixture”.
When his management questioned the decision to replace the star, he claims BBC bosses simply responded by saying he was “out of contract”.
He continued: “Indisputable as a bald statement of fact, I guess. But what a cold place the BBC is. Sometimes you wonder whether it is run by humans or a machine in the basement.”
But he got his revenge when ITV brought him back to the panel in 2017 after they bought the show.
Dame Arlene Phillips
There was a huge backlash when Arlene Phillips was sacked from Strictly[/caption]
She was part of the original set of judges on the show[/caption]
Arlene Phillips is dancing royalty. The renowned West End choreographer and talent scout was one of the founding judges of the BBC’s flagship Saturday night show, Strictly Come Dancing.
Undoubtedly, no one was more qualified than Arlene to pass judgement on the celebrity dancers.
That was until 2009, when it was announced that Arlene was being replaced by pop star and former contestant on the show Alesha Dixon.
This led to a huge backlash, with the BBC being accused of discriminating against older women, something the broadcaster denied.
Arlene later told a podcast: “I didn’t leave, I was uninvited to return. And I think there’s a big difference. If I had left the show, it would have been my choice.
“I actually feel even to this day, I wish it had been discussed. I wish that they had come to me and said, “We’re not going to keep you on”, and what the reasons were and then I could adjust myself to it.
Arlene added: “Certainly no one’s apologised. We did go for meetings two [maybe] three weeks after, but it was just, “What can we offer you instead?” Nothing, at all about any reason.
“The truth is I just don’t think they thought I was good enough. That’s the truth about it. That’s what really hurts because I felt like I was a good judge.”
Tulisa
Tulisa was a judge alongside Take That’s Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh and American superstar Kelly Rowland[/caption]
In search of the perfect team of on-screen personalities to boost the X Factor’s ratings, Simon Cowell had a revolving door of judges and TV presenters.
One such was N-Dubz‘s Tulisa Contostavlos, who judged the show for its 2011 and 2012 series. She led Little Mix to victory in 2011.
However, when 2013 rolled on, there were reports that she had lost her place on the judging panel. Awkwardly, she came out to deny this was the case.
But by the time the auditions started, it was made clear that she had been axed. Some insiders claimed she was too distracted by her personal life.
A source at the time said: “Simon has always like to change things every year and Tulisa is going to pay the price for that.”
Kate Thornton
Kate was the original X Factor host but was sacked after the third series[/caption]
Although Dermot O’Leary became the face of The X Factor, long-term fans of the show will remember Kate Thornton as its original host.
She fronted the show from 2004 to 2006 before getting the boot and being replaced by Dermot. And it seems Kate was just as shocked as everyone else to get her marching orders.
While on the In The Pink podcast with Natalie Pinkham, she expressed how she felt betrayed by show boss Simon Cowell.
She said: “They didn’t renew my contract having said that they would — and by they, I mean Simon. It’s his show, it’s his gig.
“There’d been speculation in the press that I was going to get the push and I’d asked if that was the case and if it is, please can you just give me the dignity of resigning, don’t throw me out as a cheap headline, because hopefully our friendship and our history would qualify that I mean a little bit more than that.
“That didn’t happen. It hurt more that somebody that I considered to be a friend hadn’t been up front with me.
“It was very public. It was on the News at Ten. It was embarrassing, it was humiliating and it kind of burnt for a bit.
“Then you process it and you go ‘I’m not letting this define me’.”
During the interview, she also claimed that a TV executive told her she had to lose weight.
Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh was famous for managing the Over-25s category on the X Factor[/caption]
Viewers were shocked when Louis Walsh was sacked from the judging panel[/caption]
After Simon Cowell nobody is as much part of The X Factor than Louis Walsh. I mean who would manage the over 25s without him?
That was until 2007 when Cowell decided a shake-up of the show was needed – and sensationally sacked his pal Louis.
For 2007’s fourth series, US dancer and choreographer Brian Friedman was drafted in to replace Louis on the judging panel.
He sat alongside Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and then newbie Dannii Minogue in a good old fashioned ‘shake up’.
But it was just a matter of weeks later that Brian Friedman was swapped out into a Creative Director role, with Louis dramatically brought back in to judge.
Reality TV salaries revealed
Towie:
Cast members are put into four pay bands based on their popularity.
Reality veterans Bobby Norris, James ‘Diags’ Bennewith, Georgia Kousoulou, and Chloe Sims were in the top tier, which meant they commanded £450 an episode.
Others were paid £350, £250 or £90 if they were a newcomer trying to prove their worth.
Geordie Shore:
The MTV show reportedly paid cast members £1,000-a-month for their wild antics in the early days of the show.
Veteran Sophie Kasaei revealed the cast had to work other jobs to supplement their income.
She said: “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.
“Most of us worked at the call centre because in Newcastle there’s a lot of call centres because we can sell you the dream, we’re very friendly and warm and trustworthy.
Gogglebox:
Each household is paid the same monthly allowance of £1,500.
A show insider revealed the fee is then split amongst contributors at their own discretion.
They also get to tuck into a free takeaway of their choice twice a week to keep them fuelled during long filming sessions.
The armchair critics have to watch 12 hours of telly a week in total – which is divided into two six-hour stints.
I’m A Celebrity:
The jungle show is a jewel in ITV’s crown with a bumper budget to boot. Payments are tailored to the individual, with the greater their fame or controversy factor, the bigger the cheque.
Nigel Farage reportedly bagged £1.5m for the last series – the most in its history.
While eventual series winner Sam Thompson was a snip at £80,000. This Morning’s Josie Gibson is said to have pocketed £100k while Britney’s sister Jamie Lynn received an impressive £250k.
Speaking about the shake up, Louis said: “My proudest moment on the show was getting the job in the first place… closely followed by Simon having to bring me back after sacking me.
“It’s funny, when he got rid of me, I had a contract in place already so I knew I was going to get paid but then Sharon tipped me off that things weren’t working and that they were going to bring me back.
“I think they’d just done a couple of shows with Brian [Friedman], who was a great choreographer. But he just didn’t understand the English and Irish culture.
“There was no crawling back from Simon, or anything like that… he just wanted what was best for the show, and that’s why he brought me back.”
Dame Sheila Hancock
Dame Sheila Hancock says she was fired after complaining about the amount of nudity she had to watch on Gogglebox[/caption]
She claimed show bosses were ‘angry’ after she asked to watch other shows[/caption]
Gogglebox is the jewel in Channel 4’s telly crown – and the celebrity version attracts showbiz royalty.
But acting legend Dame Sheila Hancock caused a stir after she claimed she was axed from the show for complaining about the amount of nudity she had to watch.
Dame Sheila, 91, appeared alongside her friend Gyles Brandreth in the first series.
However, she left after butting heads with the show’s bosses over the X-rated viewing she has to sit through, including clips from Naked Attraction.
Speaking to The Mirror Sheila said: “I used to love doing it with Gyles but they sacked me from that. Well, they did not ask me back.
“I think it was because there were a lot of shows with penises in, and because it went down [well] with the audience, they kept showing them to us.
“Eventually I phoned up the lady on the edit and said, ‘I am enjoying the show but do you think we can have anything other than penises?’ and she was quite angry.”
