Bravo/YouTube Jen Shah of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
A former Bravo star was taken aback when she heard how much Jen Shah was paid for her final season on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
In a Tik Tok video posted on March 2, 2023, “Real Housewives of Dallas” alum Stephanie Hollman admitted she was shocked to read about Shah’s hefty paychecks from Bravo. Shah, 49, is serving 6.5 years in federal prison on wire fraud charges, and her salary information was revealed in court documents.
In her Tik Tok, Hollman said, “I did read somewhere that Jen Shah, I guess some paperwork came out that she’s making $34,500 an episode.”
Hollman, who appeared for five seasons on RHOD, then admitted that Shah made way more than most Housewives get three seasons in.
“I will tell you that is over double what you normally would make season 3, in my experience,” Hollman said. “If she was getting paid that, she was getting paid a crazy amount of money to stay on season 3.”
Hollman added that she did not watch “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s” third season so she can’t say if Shah was “worth the $34,500 paycheck each episode.” “But that is a big, big paycheck,” she added.
Beverly Hills attorney Ronald Richards originally tweeted about Shah’s earnings while giving an update on her restitution for the telemarketing scheme she was involved in.
“Update on [Jen Shah] restitution,” Richards wrote on March 1, 2023. “Her production company that pays her for Bravo just revealed she is paid $34,500 per episode.”
Radar Online also viewed the documents which confirmed that production company Shed Media told the court that Shah earned $34,500 per episode for her most recent season. The third season of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” had 16 episodes, including two reunion episodes, which means Shah would have earned around $552,000 for her final season on the show.
Shah’s scandal may have helped her get a pay raise. The New York Times previously reported that Erika Jayne was paid about $600,000 for the 11th season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” which documented her ongoing divorce from Tom Girardi and the accompanying lawsuits the former couple was faced with.
Stephanie Hollman Revealed She Spent More Than She Made When She First Joined The Real Housewives
Bravo/YouTubeStephanie Hollman
In her TikTok video, Hollman also revealed that there is a “formula” used to determine a Real Housewives star’s salary and that when she joined RHOD in 2016 she was paid very little.
“I will say, season 1 for me, I felt like I was paying to be on the show,” she admitted to her followers. “Like, I definitely spent more than I made.”
Hollman noted that the third season on the show is where Housewives “kind of start” to make decent money, which is why there is sometimes a turnover with cast members. “It’s because they get expensive,” she said of the Housewives cast.
Denise Richards Said Bravo Doesn’t Pay Big Bucks
BravoPictured: (l-r) Garcelle Beauvais, Denise Richards, Lisa Rinna, Kyle Richards, Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave
Some Housewives have been rumored to leave the franchise over salary disputes. When Denise Richards joined “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in 2018, there were rumors she signed a multi-million dollar deal. Richards was already an established movie and TV star when she joined the Bravo reality show, but she later revealed that being the franchise’s most famous face did not net her a special deal.
“I don’t know who started the rumor when I first joined the show that I got $4 million. No offense to Bravo but they don’t pay a lot of money,” she told “Jeff Lewis Live” in 2022, according to People. “So I did not get $4 million.”
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