Gogglebox legend takes brutal swipe at co-star for ‘not bringing drama’
It comes after the former reality star said she'd earnt 'very little' money.
A Gogglebox star has taken aim at a former couch critic for apparently not being entertaining enough.
A hairdresser by trade, Stephen Webb first joined the Channel 4 series in 2013 during its original season, first appearing with Christopher Steed before being joined on his couch with mum Pat Webb.
Then, from 2019 until 2023, he appeared with now ex-husband Daniel Lustig, however the pair left the show in 2023 after feeling the time was ‘right to move on and explore other opportunities’.
Two years on, the TV star has reflected on how lucrative his stint on the show was.
The now 54-year-old has said Gogglebox was ‘very profitable’ for him and allowed him to open ‘two salons’ with his earnings.
‘I was extremely well paid,’ he said.
Stephen Webb featured on Gogglebox for a decade before quitting two years ago (Picture: Channel 4) He’s now said the experience was ‘very profitable’ for him (Picture: Justin Goff Photos/ Getty Images)‘I opened up two salons off the back of it. It’s not just what you get paid, it’s all the endorsements as well.
‘It was very profitable,’ he added when speaking to Bang Showbiz.
Explaining more, Stephen said it was ‘the easiest job in the world’ and enabled him to make money while sitting on the couch watching TV while eating a takeaway.
‘We would get home from work and basically, just come in, the cameras and everything will be already rigged up. Just turn it all on. Sit down, order a takeaway, and crack on!’ he shared.
‘I mean, I’m never going to get paid to sit and eat pizza and watch TV at home ever again, am I? It was the dream.’
However his former co-star Reverend Kate Bottley recently said she’d seen ‘very little’ money from taking part (Picture: Jude Edginton/ Channel 4)However, he also weighed in after one of his former co-stars previously expressed her disappointment taking part in the long-running series.
In 2014 Reverend Kate Bottley and her husband Graham joined the show but quit two years later after finding the filming process ‘overwhelming’.
During a previous interview Kate said that they’d seen ‘very little’ money from appearing on the show as they had to spend it on ‘electricity, internet and food’ for the crew.
When asked about her claims about the pay, Stephen didn’t hold back and quipped: ‘Well, maybe if Kate had delivered a bit more drama, a bit more fun…’
Following his departure from Gogglebox after a decade, Stephen signed up to compete on Dancing on Ice – but was forced to withdraw before the show started after breaking his ankle.
Stephen suggested she didn’t bring enough ‘drama’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ ITV/ Shutterstock)He later appeared on Celebs Go Dating.
However, after taking part in these shows, he was unable to return to the show on which he made his name due to a strict rule that bans the participants from building public profiles on other shows in order to maintain the feeling that the cast are everyday people.
Despite this, Stephen would still be keen to appear again – but on the Celebrity Gogglebox spin-off.
‘I think the whole premise of the show is that it’s normal people. And I think when you step outside of that and into the realms of celebrity, it changes it,’ he explained.
‘Unless they’ll have me back for the celebrity version, I think it’d be less authentic.’
He’s since gone on to sign up for Dancing on Ice and Celebs Go Dating (Picture: Mike Marsland/ WireImage)Earlier this year Reverend Kate described being on Gogglebox as ‘quite intrusive’ and ‘consensual exploitation’.
When discussing her time on the show on the Walking the Dog podcast, she said: ‘I wish I’d known how much it took over our life for two and a half years. It’s reality TV. It’s by its nature…it’s consensual exploitation. It was quite intrusive, really. But y’know we consented to that intrusion.’
She also revealed the excuse she made up in order to be able to quit the series.
‘It so happened that it came around the time that Ruby was doing her GCSEs so the excuse we gave was, “We’re going to take some time away while she does her exams”. But we were just a bit overwhelmed.’
Gogglebox is streaming on Channel 4.
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