Baywatch cast members have revealed the surprisingly low fees they earned while working on the iconic TV show.
The series, which followed lifeguards working on the beaches of California, was a smash hit in the 1990s and aired for 12 years.
But despite being one of the highest rating shows in the USA, the cast have now revealed they earned far less than many of their TV peers.
The New York Post quotes Nicole Eggert, who played Summer Quinn on the show, saying in a new four-part docuseries, titled After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, “Back then, what they were offering everyone was like $3,500 (£2,600) a show.”
Comparing her earnings to that of another successful cast, the 52-year-old remarked, “Friends at that point I think they were each making $1 million (£760,000) an episode.”
Baywatch originally aired on NBC in 1989 but was cancelled after one season – only to be revived by David Hasselhoff and the show’s creators in 1991 where it went on to be the highest-rated show in the USA.
The series ended in 2001, with a production run of 241 episodes.
Friends, which starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, produced 236 episodes between 1994 and 2004.
The cast famously earned $1 million (£760,000) each per episode from the eighth season of the show onwards – and were reportedly each paid $2.5 million (£1.9 million) for a reunion special in 2021.
