Former Gogglebox star Paige Deville says the show is a 'pantomime behind the scenes'.
Regularly appearing alongside mum Sally Hayward, the Birmingham duo were hugely popular on the show - one of their most memorable moments being when they didn't know who ABBA were.
I'm 27 and honestly couldn't name one member of the group.
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Anyway, after quitting in 2021, Paige has now shared the behind-the-scenes secrets of the beloved show.
The 26-year-old exclusively told The Sun: “People think you’re just watching TV but you have to be on the ball and in constant high spirits, you can’t be on your phone.
“They film it three times in case they miss a reaction and to have different responses.
"At times it can be a bit like, ‘Right, I’m watching this again,’ but it’s a job at the end of the day.”
The Gogglebox star went on to compare the show to 'a pantomime behind the scenes'.
“They wouldn’t tell you, 'Say this word for word,' but they prep you to say things and warn you about comments that won’t make it into the show," she said.
“Once Boris [Johnson] was on and I was like, ‘Oh my God, well he’s not done anything has he? What has he done for this country?’
“They were like, ‘That was never going to be aired, Paige’ and wanted me to say something like, ‘Oh my God, he’s doing a great job.'
“If you’re watching a juicy clip, producers say, ‘You’re going to absolutely love this’ through the speakers.
“Sometimes they give you a ‘three, two, one’ countdown which gears you up and gets you ready to react. It’s a bit of a pantomime behind the scenes.
“You have to understand that you’re a character in a show and you can't be your 100 percent authentic self, otherwise everyone would be on their phones for half of the show.”
Paige claims that everyone on the show 'is paid differently depending on how long they have been on it'.
“We were on Gogglebox for just two years so were never going to get a mega-high day rate because people didn’t get the chance to know us,” she explains.
She says the show is a great way to grow a following.
Recalling the infamous ABBA episode, Paige added: “I remember saying, ‘Who’s ABBA?’ on one episode and that blew up.
"There were comments like, ‘Who the hell doesn’t know ABBA?’, ‘What are the youth today?’ and other hurtful things.
“But you are a character in a show and people are laughing at you, good or bad, and taking the mick out of you.”
LADbible have contacted Studio Lambert for comment.
Topics: Gogglebox, Channel 4, TV and Film
Anish Vij