Benidorm star reveals exactly how much they were paid for hit sitcom, admitting “I know people will say, ‘is that it?’”

BENIDORM burst onto our screens almost two decades ago, and thrilled fans with its comic take on Brits abroad enjoying an all-inclusive holiday. Despite the much-loved show coming to an end in 2018, one of the stars of the smash hit comedy has spilled the beans on exactly how much the cast got paid. A Benidorm star has revealed exactly how much he was paid for appearing in the hit ITV show Credit: ITV Asa Elliot has spilled the beans on his Benidorm pay cheque Credit: tiktok/@asaelliott Benidorm ran for ten seasons on ITV, and had an incredible cast of beloved actors including Siobhan Finneran, Steve Pemberton, and of course Sheila Reid, who played chain-smoking Madge. Fans of the show will remember cabaret star Asa Elliot, who joined the show in 2012 for season five. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! Playing himself, the singer would belt out tunes in the Solana Hotel’s famous Neptune’s Bar as the madcap guests would bop along to his songs. Asa, now 44, has spilled the beans on how much he was paid for his stint on Benidorm. Taking to TikTok, the crooner told fans: “Benidorm paid me £6,201.59p to appear in six episodes of series five and I know some people are going to hear that and think, ‘Is that it?’ “But this was 2011 and I only actually filmed for around three weeks in total and the deal I ended up with was very different from the one I originally flew to Spain with.” Asa played Neptune Bar’s resident singer in seasons five and six Credit: ITV Asa revealed he was paid over six grand for the first series he was on Credit: ITV Continuing with his story, Asa revealed: “After appearing in the Christmas special, I was offered a part in series five as a regular character and I was advised to get myself an acting agent to negotiate the contract and that turned out to be one of the best things I could have done. “My new agent negotiated for me to return for series five with all the flights, hotel and food paid for.” Most read in News TV The star then revealed the cast also got a small amount of expenses for filming Benidorm. “Acting on the show, we also got 25 euros a day in cash as a per diem, which is basically expenses and you got that for every single day you were in Spain, whether you were filming or not,” Asa told fans. “But when I first flew out to Spain, I was under the impression I was going to earn £4,000 for the whole series and that was a buyout, so £4,000, no royalties, job done. “But when I got to Spain, the scripts for the series weren’t actually completely finished yet and then something brilliant happened. “So as filming went on, I started getting given more scenes, more dialogue and even extra songs. “So my new agent went back in and renegotiated the whole deal. At that point, my money went up from £4,000 to over £6,000, but more importantly, I was moved onto an equity contract and that meant I’d now received royalties as well.” Revealing how his life changed after filming Benidorm, Asa said: “I’d gone from working in a bank and singing at weddings to spending months in Spain filming one of the biggest comedy shows on television.” After impressing the bosses, the star then revealed he was signed up for season six the following year, and in total appeared in 13 episodes, which included one Christmas special. Now, eight years since the show ended, Asa continues to perform, and can often be found doing panto over the festive period. The singer is also known for performing to holidaymakers on cruise ships. Away from the spotlight, and Asa enjoys a cosy home life with his wife Natalie and their two young kids, Rockie and Buddy. Meanwhile, the actor previously told fans how he’d quit television to become an ASDA delivery driver. The star took a temporary break from singing on cruise ships during the pandemic after travel was halted during lockdown. Speaking to Hull Daily Mail, Asa said at the time: “At the beginning of the lockdown the work was drying up for obvious reasons and I thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to be sat around on my hands for this’. “I got a job with my local shop in Kingswood doing deliveries for them and I helped out at the local vaccination centres as a volunteer steward.” Benidorm cast members Airing from 2007 to 2018, ITV sitcom Benidorm had a wide range of stars appear during its decade-long run Johnny Vegas: The popular comedian played Geoff Maltby aka “The Oracle” Steve Pemberton: Writer, comedian and co-creator of Inside No. 9starred as Mick Garvey. Siobhan Finneran: Coronation Street and Downton Abbey actress Siobhan played the part of Janice Garvey. Crissy Rock: The Liverpudlian stand-up comedian played Janey Yorke. Tony Maudsley: Now known as George Shuttleworth on Coronation Street, Tony’s Benidorm stint saw him portray Kenneth Du Beke. Sherrie Hewson: Another Corrie alum, the former Loose Women panellist had the role of Joyce Temple-Savage in Benidorm. Hannah Waddingham: Best known for playing Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso, Hannah played Tonya Dyke in Benidorm. Danny Walters: Having later played ill-fated EastEnders hunk Keanu Taylor, Benidorm fans knew Danny as Tiger Dyke. John Challis: The late Only Fools and Horses actor, who played Boycie, had a stint in Benidorm as Monty Evans/Staines. Nathan Byron: Nathan had a recurring role in Ghosts as Mike’s friend Obi, but also appeared in Benidorm as Joey Ellis.