‘Sister Wives’ Mykelti Padron Claims She Was ‘Never Paid’.What Other TLC Reality Kids Did and Didn’t Cash Out?
Which TLC families paid their children for their appearances on their popular series and which did not?
Sister Wives star Mykelti Padron and her husband Tony regularly share new videos and family updates on her Patreon channel. There, they take fan questions while hosting watch parties of the reality series. During one installment, Mykelti revealed she was “never paid” for her time on the series. This seems to be a running issue for TLC reality kids: who did and didn’t cash out?
Mykelti Padron of TLC’s ‘Sister Wives’ gets honest about getting paid for reality TV work
During an installment the couple filmed for their Patreon channel, Mykelti, and Tony Padron answered fan questions about Sister Wives. It was during this Q&A that Mykelti revealed she was never paid during 18 seasons of filming the TLC series.
Typically, ratings for most TLC series peak during episodes featuring weddings and baby births. So when a fan asked Myketi if she was paid for this type of content, her answer was surprising.
“Do you get paid for things like filming your births? I would hope so,” a fan asked Mykelti and Tony. “Technically, Jenny, no,” the reality star replied.
The reality star did not elaborate on her commentary. However, her sibling Gwendlyn Brown claimed on her YouTube channel that Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown aren’t happy about the older siblings speaking out against them.
Gwendlyn’s wife, Beatriz Queiroz, said, “She does get some influence when she gets angry calls from some family members.” However, she did not elaborate further.
What TLC reality kids did and didn’t cash out?
One of the most infamous cases of reality kids who made millions of dollars and never saw a penny of the payout remains the Duggar family. The clan was on TV for 17 years as the stars of the TLC series 17 Kids and Counting, 18 Kids and Counting, 19 Kids and Counting, Jill and Jessa: Counting On and Counting On.
In the Prime Video Shiny Happy People, Jill Duggar spoke against her parents, heads of one of TLC’s most bankable families. She revealed that she and her siblings were never paid for their time on the series.
“I never received any payout — no check, no cash, no nothing. For seven and a half years of my adult life, I was never paid,” Jill wrote. She also added that none of her siblings were paid as well.
Another reality clan that made a lot of money at the height of their popularity was the cast of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. The series ran for two years and was a TLC smash.
Reportedly, June Shannon wanted to set an example for her daughters by being smart with their reality TV money. She was said to have put their earnings into trust fund accounts for their future.
“I want my kids to look back and say, ‘Mama played it smart. Unlike those other reality TV people,’” June opened up to TMZ. “TLC puts the money into the girls’ trust accounts for me. I get an email telling me how much everyone gets.”
How much did Kody Brown, Jim Bob Duggar, and June Shannon make for their TLC series’?
Sister Wives stars Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown earn between $25-$40K per episode, per The US Sun. The money at first, reportedly went into a combined family account the five adults had access to. This would mean that for each season, which typically runs from 12-16 episodes, the family earned anywhere from $300K to $400K.
However, since splitting from three of his four wives, that payout now goes into four different LLCs. Kody and Robyn Brown share their company, DABSARK, while the other wives are paid individually for their time on the series.
June Shannon and her family spent two years as the stars of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Per Life & Style, from 2012-2014, the family reportedly received a salary of $50,000 per episode, earning them around $2.75 million overall. Subsequently, the family shares their stories and still receives paychecks from WeTV for the spinoff series Mama June: From Not to Hot and Mama June: Family Crisis and Road to Redemption.
But, the reality clan that cashed in the most was the Duggars. According to Jill Duggar’s book Counting the Cost, family patriarch Jim Bob Duggar made upwards of $8M in total between 2014 through 2021. She revealed details of the family’s 2014 contract with the network, claiming the family was paid $50K per half-hour episode and $65K per hour episode. Subsequently, their payments increased to $58K and $73K if the show reached four seasons.
