Just because he was a child star doesn’t mean he was set up for life!
Josh Peck, who starred in Nickelodeon’s hit series Drake & Josh growing up, just revealed how much money he made while on the TV show — and the answer might shock you!
While chatting on Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick‘s podcast Trading Secrets on Monday, the 35-year-old revealed that his annual salary hardly covered all of his expenses despite the major success of the show!
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Before getting straight to the numbers, the actor discussed the biggest misconception about gaining fame as a child, explaining:
“I can only speak to my experience, but I think it’s quite public that if you were on a show like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family, and you were the kid on a massive network, syndicated show. The case could be made that you’d have enough money to last you for the rest of your life.”
Because of this “misnomer,” most people believed he grew up with a “golden parachute,” but that wasn’t the case at all.
“But, the reality is that when we were making the show, we did 60 episodes and we made about $15,000 an episode. So, when all is said and done, we were sort of left after agents and managers and taxes.”
So, big picture, the Happy People author wasn’t exactly living paycheck to paycheck, but things weren’t as glamorous as some would assume, he continued:
“You live with about $450,000 over five years, which breaks down to a little less than $100,000 a year—now, certainly a great amount of money, but not enough to set you up for life.”
Also, this money wasn’t entirely his — it also helped support his family! He noted:
“And a lot of it, we lived on, and I’m not gonna brag: My mom and I had a used BMW five series. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment with amenities… We lived a very middle-class life.”
Which is definitely not something to complain about! But we get that it’s a totally different lifestyle than what most people imagine for a celebrity of that age and amount of fame!
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Shutting down the belief even further, Josh revealed that once the show finally concluded in 2007, anything that was leftover went straight into helping him and his mother make ends meet until he snagged another big gig, he added:
“[The money] went to [our] lifestyles when the show was over.”
The How I Met Your Father star expressed in other words:
“It was like we had 18 months of runway, you know. It’s as though someone had lost their job.”
Also, there are “no residuals on kids’ television,” so just because Drake & Josh continues to be a hit among nostalgic TV lovers, it doesn’t mean that he’s raking in any cash! Bummer! Does this surprise you? It definitely sheds a different light on child stars — especially those that don’t break out to megastardom in various mediums! Let us know your reactions (below!)
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