Strictly Come Dancing star Peter Andre has been criticised for receiving a large fee for his performance at the Child of the Year awards.
The awards ceremony aims to recognise young children, some of which have overcome illness and tragedy, and make them feel like they’re at the “mini-BAFTAs”. According to reports, the star was paid £30,000 to perform and do a meet and greet with the winners.
Unfortunately, the event failed to cover its £42,000 costs and organiser Sue MacLean had to pay the fee out of her own funeral care business.
The father-of-three spent five hours at the event although only performed for 40 minutes. His agent confirmed his £30,000 fee, with events company IForEvents pocketing the extra £12,000.
While Sue did have second thoughts when she saw the bill, she claims the events company wouldn’t let her cancel the booking.
“We had to pay £3,000 or £4,000 at a time,” Sue said of trying to meet Peter’s fees.
“It was the only way we could do it. We just couldn’t magic that amount of money out of thin air.”
However, it wasn’t all bad, with Sue telling the Mirror that Peter “was fantastic”, adding “he was amazing with the children.”
A statement issued by representatives of Peter, read: “Peter supports an abundance of charities such as the NSPCC and Caudwell Children, not only does he support these charities by making major appearances without receiving any fees, he also makes surprise visits to fans who are unwell in hospital and hospices.
“Peter also has his own charity with Cancer Research, the Peter Andre Fund which he devotes much of his time to, raising money and awareness for the charity. A booking came in to help this particular charity raise money, the fee of £30,000 was offered for this appearance.”
