‘Love after Lockup’: Do the Couples Get Paid to Go on the Show?

People say that you can find love anywhere. WE tv’s hit show Love after Lockup certainly puts that old saying to the test.

The show centers around couples who met while one of them was in prison. The cameras then follow the pair as the incarcerated person is set free and the audience gets to watch as most of them discover that dating an inmate was much easier than dating a free person.

This season, there are five couples on the show and one three-way, tangled relationship that probably needs more than a sentence to explain. The show follows these people through some of the ugliest moments in their lives, like drug relapses, repeat incarcerations, and more. So it really makes you wonder what would make someone want to go on this show and air out all of their dirty laundry for the world to see?

Money.

The cast reportedly gets paid to appear on the show.

How much does the cast of ‘Love after Lockup’ make?

The cast of the show receives $2,000 per episode, according to one of the participant’s contracts obtained by Starcasm. They also receive $250 per day for attending and filming specials for the show, such as reunions.

The problem with getting paid per episode is that every couple isn’t featured on each episode. The show constantly rotates cast members so that certain storylines are the focus of different episodes.

Traci Wagaman from this season of the show recently shed some light on the final amount that she was paid. When a fan commented that Wagaman was the “bad girl of the show,” the reality star responded.

“U know I’m the bad girl! Didn’t get paid $20k to be good,” she wrote.

Going by the $2,000 per episode payment, that would mean that Wagaman was featured in 10 episodes of the season. Because the season was originally set to only be 14 episodes long and Wagaman was missing for a few of them, this number makes sense.

However, We tv recently released a press release, announcing that they were extending season two of the show.

“WE tv’s breakout series Love After Lockup is a legitimate sensation, catching on with viewers and continuing remarkable audience growth from season one through to its current second season,” the release read. “The network announced today it will keep the cameras rolling and extend the 14-episode second season by an additional 10 episodes that will introduce new couples making the complicated transition to love on the ‘outside’ when a partner one has only ever known behind bars is released from prison.”

The network has been overwhelmed with the success of the show.

“We could not be more thrilled with the organic growth that Love After Lockup continues to deliver, week after week, as more viewers find and connect with the real stories in the show,” Marc Juris, the president of WE tv said in a statement.

“We knew we had a compelling concept with this series, and to see viewers respond like this is beyond gratifying.”

It is unclear whether the cast will be paid the same amount for the additional episodes or how their contracts will be updated.

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