We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how much Oscars hosts get paid.
And while some naysayers might claim it’s not quite got the same level of prestige, a listener to showbiz podcast The Rest Is Entertainment recently asked how much those who put their homes up for Grand Designs get, too.
The fan wanted to know how the homes ― which invariably run over budget and usually involve a pregnancy ― end up looking so expensively furnished despite the owners so often being strapped for cash.
And?
Richard Osman, who co-hosts the podcast with journalist Marina Hyde, said that they don’t intervene much on Grand Designs.
Kevin McCloud, who Richard called “the greatest television presenter working today,” answered the question himself on the show.
“No, we don’t pay our contributors, our Grand Designers, to appear on Grand Designs,” he said.
“They do it out of love, and I think because they’re looking forward to a really nice expensive-looking home video.”
He admits that “we do give them a tiny little contribution towards their expenses in relation to filming alone,” but adds “that’s it.”
“They do it for the joy of it all, and aren’t we grateful,” Kevin concluded.
Richard thinks that’s the secret to the show’s success
The Thursday Murder Club author reckons the low interference approach from the Grand Design team is the secret to the show’s success.
He added that the “contribution [Kevin was] talking about is literally nothing other than occasionally, if a film crew is there, it can disrupt you by half a day and it will disrupt your work for half a day and therefore... there might be trades who need compensating.”
But aside from that, Richard says “literally, it is your own money. But that’s why it’s ― oh my God, I love Grand Designs so much.”
I’m with you there, Richard...