Panned host David Walliams pocketing £50,000 a night to host The Nightly Show
DAVID Walliams is being paid £50,000 to host each 30-minute episode of new ITV series The Nightly Show, we can reveal.
The Britain’s Got Talent funny-man will pocket £250,000 for just five nights work on the series that has received mixed reviews by viewers.
That works out at around £1,500 for every minute the 45-year-old’s half hour programme is on air.
The show, which controversially shunted ITV’s News At Ten to a later slot, shed more than half its audience in one night.
The first episode, which followed popular crime drama Broadchurch, pulled in 3.7 million viewers. But Tuesday night’s episode pulled in just 1.4 million at its peak.
The Nightly Show will feature a different host each week — with Mel and Sue, Gordon Ramsay, Davina McCall and Bradley Walsh lined up.
Guests on this week’s show have included actor Martin Clunes and ventriloquist Nina Conti as well as Sex in the City star Kim Cattrall and comedienne Katherine Ryan.
Tonight’s show featured comedian Rob Brydon and wildlife adventurer Forrest Galante.
The satirical news show — inspired in part by big US nightly talk shows — is recorded at 6pm and then broadcast at 10pm on the same night.
When the show comes to the end of its initial eight week run ITV director of television Kevin Lygo will decide whether to keep it going.
An ITV spokesman said: “We never comment on speculation around individual artist’s contracts.”