Coleen Rooney not only lost out on being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! 2024, she is also set to lose up to half of her prize earnings.
Reports claim that Wayne Rooney’s wife was offered more than £1.5 million for her time in the jungle, making her the highest-paid campmate of all time.
However, she will have to hand back a big percentage of the record-breaking sum to the Australian taxman.
According to tax advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, the show’s stars are subject to a 45 percent tax rate on their appearance fees.
Michael Buerk, who was on the show in 2014, said he was shocked to find that the Australian taxman had taken a large chunk of his £150,000 fee.
He told the Daily Star: “I was offered I’m A Celebrity a few times and I didn’t want to do it. But when the money they were offering got really high, I decided to do it.
“But they neglect to point out that the Australian taxman takes nearly 50 percent of it straight off the top, which takes some of the cream off.”
The journalist, 78, said that after the Australian government had taken their share, he only ended up with half the amount he thought he would be getting.
With the show being filmed in Australia, HMRC receives very little from the celebrities compared to what it did when the show was set in Gwrych Castle in Wales.
Blick Rothenberg director Robert Salter said: “When the show was in Wales, HMRC was able to receive all the tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) which were due on the stars’ appearance fees.
“This meant that with the highest earning stars, HMRC could actually receive up to 47 percent of their fee income (45 percent income tax and 2 percent NICs).
“However, with the show being filmed in Australia, the initial taxing rights on the appearance money sits there, where the highest earners from the show will be liable to a marginal tax rate of 45 percent on their appearance fees.”
It has also been reported that the celebrities have to hand back a chunk of their future earnings after appearing on the ITV show.
According to the Mirror, contracts at ITV Studios say the company will receive 30 percent of the celebrities’ earnings for six months after they have left the jungle and their profile has been raised.