We’ve uncovered the truth about Married at First Sight Australia 2022‘s Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding‘s rumoured $250,000 podcast deal and this one’s juicy.
ICYMI: The pair’s Sit With Us podcast switched networks in June after their $250,000 deal with ACAST wasn’t renewed.
At the time of the Sit With Us launch, it was reported that Domenica, 30, and Ella, 29, accepted this eye-watering deal after a HUGE bidding war went down between the major podcast networks.
However, as revealed in episode 318 of the So Dramatic! podcast, the reality stars allegedly may not have had a “deal” to begin with!
“There was no bidding war for Sit With Us. That simply isn’t true,” one source told So Dramatic!.
“ACAST were the only ones interested. But everyone in the industry knows that ACAST famously doesn’t do sign-on fees for anyone.” And our jaws are on the floor!
Not only that, but our source alleges that the “bidding war” and the $250,000 deal were LEAKED by Domenica to “create hype around her podcast”. And shame it didn’t work!
Why MAFS’ Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding’s podcast deal wasn’t renewed
Another source provided some insight into why the MAFS stars’ podcast deal wasn’t renewed.
“Networks usually don’t pay a huge sign-on fee for podcasts unless it’s already got a proven track record,” they dished.
“Just because someone’s popular on TV or has a huge social media following, it doesn’t always mean it will translate to a successful podcast.
“Not to mention, MAFS stars usually fade within a year. It’s not a smart decision for any business. It’s a huge risk,” they finished.
This intel was backed up by another source who told Yahoo! Lifestyle that: “Walking away from a company that previously put up a quarter of a million for a debut suggests that kind of money wasn’t on the table for them to renew.”
They added that whilst Sit With Us was “successful and consistent”, it didn’t perform as well as other podcasts, including Abbie Chatfield‘s It’s A Lot and Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley‘s Life Uncut.
Domenica and Ella have since signed a collaboration deal with Southern Cross Austereo’s LiSTNR network and independent network DM Podcasts.
No reports of a sign-on fee have been made public as of yet.
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