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What do reality TV stars make, anyway?

By Jessica Goldberg, The Frisky
"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is said to be negotiating for a healthy raise after making $36 million last year.
"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is said to be negotiating for a healthy raise after making $36 million last year.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell allegedly banked $36 million last year.
  • Ozzy and family $5K each per episode for the first season of "The Osbournes."
  • "The Real Housewives of New York City" stars are shooting for six-figures.
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(The Frisky) -- After the premiere of VH1's "Sex Rehab," I found myself thinking one thing: How much did folks get paid to be on this show, because I certainly hope it's a whole heck of a lot.

Ask and ye shall receive -- a day later, I have my answer.

Comedian Artie Lange, a former heroin and cocaine addict, has revealed to the NY Post that he was offered $200K to go on "Celebrity Rehab." He turned the offer down. "They said it was about me getting better, but if I relapsed, they're not going to air that?" he said. "My mother knows I've done coke, but she's never seen me do it." Still, that is a lot of dough we're talking about. Let's see how that compares to what others get for starring in reality shows.

* European production company, Eyeworks, has supposedly agreed to pay the 14 children of OctoMom Nadya Suleman $125,000 for 36 days of shooting their forthcoming reality show.

* "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell allegedly banked $36 million last year. And this year he's said to be negotiating for an extensive raise.

* MTV reportedly paid Ozzy and family $5K each per episode for the first season of "The Osbournes." For the second, they each got a ginormous raise to $5 million per episode. Aw, I miss that show!

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* Kristin Cavallari supposedly gets $63K per episode of "The Hills." Meanwhile, Heidi Montag denies making $100,000 per episode.

* "The Real Housewives of New York City" stars were reportedly negotiating for six-figure salaries for the upcoming season. That just doesn't seem fair though, because they have all those fabulous New York sample sales that save them money already.

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* The unit that is composed of Jon and Kate Gosselin earned about $75,000 per episode, for "John and Kate Plus 8," and I guess most of that should go to buying school shoes.

* "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Shawn Johnson got $125,000 for signing on for the show. She seemed to think that the base pay, plus $50K bonuses, was worth her time, unlike Nick Lachey.

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What do you think -- are they all getting what they're worth?

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