‘I can pay my council tax!’: the ever-shrinking world of TV prize money

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Lamborghinis! Holiday homes! Being able to afford petrol! Once upon a time, winning a reality or quiz show meant you could live like an oligarch. Today? Not so much …

When Anthony Hutton won the sixth series of Big Brother in 2005, he could “go into shops and not even have to look at the price tag”. Hutton, now a 41-year-old barber and mental health advocate based in Darlington, spent his £50,000 prize lavishly. By combining it with earnings from magazine photoshoots, he was able to buy a Range Rover, take a trip to Las Vegas and buy some property. He even bought his aunt a holiday to Disney World. “I drove to the Monaco Grand Prix in a Lamborghini,” he recalls. “Previously, the most extravagant place I’d been to was Magaluf.”

When 26-year-old Jordan Sangha won the latest series of Big Brother in November, a look of contentment washed over his face. “I can pay my council tax,” he grinned.

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