Gogglebox star slams 'exploitative show' and says she made no money

Former Gogglebox star Reverend Kate Bottley has launched a scathing attack on the Channel 4 show, calling it "consensual exploitation" and admitting she lied to get out of her contract. Kate, 50, who now presents on BBC Radio 2, said she gave a fake excuse to step away from the hit series in 2016 and never intended to return. She claimed the show disrupted her family life, isolated her children, and left them financially worse off.

The Church of England vicar, who appeared on Gogglebox with her husband Graham for five series, said their modest pay was swallowed up by hidden costs. Speaking 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, by its nature consensual exploitation." Kate explained she initially agreed to take part to help change how people of faith were portrayed on screen, but the filming soon became "quite intrusive".

Her son Arthur, who she said is on the "autistic spectrum", and daughter Ruby would hide in their rooms twice a week while a large production crew filmed in their home.

"My kids spent two-and-a-half years sat in their bedrooms every Tuesday and Thursday night or whatever nights they came to film," she said. "My kids didn't have friends round for a lot [of the time], didn't have help with their homework. Things like that."

She also revealed how mealtimes were affected: "I'm married to a man who won't eat takeaways, and I don't want to be filmed eating on camera so I was like, 'No, I'll cook.' There were casseroles and chillis."

"They paid, but I cooked two nights a week for the crew... all the money we got from it went on the electricity, the internet connection that they were using, and the food and being hospitable to six people in my home two nights a week.

She added: "It's a vicarage as well, I should be hospitable. We should be sharing our home to people, and eating food together.

"It was a good two and a half years but we couldn't have done any more. It got to the point where we were just a bit overwhelmed."

Kate revealed they ultimately left the show under the guise of helping Ruby focus on her GCSEs. "But we were just a bit overwhelmed," she admitted.

The BBC host also addressed criticism from viewers: "We used to get that whole 'Oh, you never let your husband speak.' It was like, 'Wow.' Be careful there, your misogyny's showing."

While grateful for the profile boost, Kate said the exclusivity clause meant she had to turn down better-paid jobs, including an invite to Would I Lie To You?

"There's quite tight exclusivity, and rightly so," she said. "Because if you're filming ordinary people sat on their sofa watching TV you can't then have those people on the TV. It sort of breaks the fourth wall too much."