Reverend Kate Bottley, a former Gogglebox cast member and husband of her own, has spoken about the experience. She co-starred on the Channel 4 show from 2014 to 2016.
Former Gogglebox cast member Reverend Kate Bottley has described the TV show as “quite intrusive” and “consensual exploitation”. She has now spoken about her experience almost a decade on from her decision to leave.
Kate, now 50, appeared on the Channel 4 show alongside her husband Graham Bottley and their late dog Buster from 2014 to 2016. The couple, who have two children, welcomed cameras into their home in Blyth during the several series that they took part in the long-running reality TV show.
Since leaving Gogglebox nine years ago, Kate has featured on several other shows including Songs of Praise and Pilgrimage: the Road To Santiago. The Church of England vicar also presents BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday.
In a recent episode of the Walking the Dog podcast, Kate reflected on her rise to fame on Gogglebox. She stated on the podcast, “I wish I knew how much it dominated our lives for two and a half years. Reality TV is playing. By nature, it is consensual exploitation. Really, it was quite intrusive. But you can tell that we consented to it.
My kids sat in their bedrooms on Tuesday and Thursday nights or whatever nights they came home to film, she continued, adding, “My kids spent two and a half years sat in their bedrooms.” My kids didn’t have any help with their homework and neither did my kids, who were friends for a lot of it. “That’s what” happen.
Kate added that they “got paid very little” as well. She claimed, “The crew paid, but I cooked two nights a week.” She then claimed that she had offered to cook because Graham “won’t eat takeaways” and that she didn’t want to be filmed eating.
She claimed that every penny we received from it went toward paying for the food and being able to host six people at my house twice per week. I should be welcoming in the vicarage as well.
We should be eating together and eating together in our homes. You’re correct, it was a good two and a half years, but I don’t believe we could have done anything more with it. We eventually felt a little overwhelmed as a result.
When questioned about why she left, she responded, “Yes. She then later claimed she couldn’t participate in any other TV shows while working for Gogglebox despite wanting to.
She continued, “Although there’s quite a bit of exclusivity,” which is appropriate because you can’t film those people while they’re sat on their sofas and watching TV. It kind of “breaks the fourth wall” too much.
Kate claimed that shows like Would I Lie To You were available to her. – which she has since appeared on, but because Gogglebox “won’t let you do it,” she was unable to participate in. She said, “There was something coming in that I wanted to have a go at, which I was contractually unable to do.”
The former Gogglebox cast member then admitted that she gave an “excuse” when she left in 2016. She stated, “And it just so happened that Ruby was taking her GCSEs, so the justification we gave was that we were going to take some time off while she takes her exams.”
Source: Mirror
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