Joey Essex 'to earn £250,000 with club tour' after shock Love Island exit ahead of final
Joey Essex is reportedly poised to rake in £250,000 from a club tour after his recent exit from Love Island.
The former TOWIE star, 34, and his partner Jessy Potts were eliminated on Sunday night's episode after being voted the least compatible couple by their fellow contestants.
Despite not making it to the final, Essex, who reportedly boasts a net worth of £8million, stands to gain a substantial sum from a potential club tour.
According to The Sun, his team has arranged a series of UK dates where he can earn £6,000 per hour, allowing fans to take selfies and party with the star.
A source close to Essex told the outlet: “Well, Joey might not have made the final but he’ll be having the last laugh! His team worked overtime while he was in the villa to book him for as many appearances in the coming months as possible.
“He’s well known and doesn’t often do them nowadays but Love Island’s introduced him to a new audience and he’s been snapped up by venues hoping he’ll be a big draw.
“It’s gruelling to be out every night but the financial reward will be huge.”
The Standard has contacted Joey Essex’s rep for comment.
The news follows the revelation that the reality TV star was not paid any more than the other contestants on this year's Love Island, receiving around £375 a week, which is intended to cover the Islanders' rent and bills while they were away from home.
An insider told MailOnline last month: “Joey is being treated like any other Love Island contestant, he's playing by the same rules and won't be given any preferential treatment.
“He hasn't been paid an appearance fee or any money at all for signing up to the show, not a penny.
“On Love Island, it is all about the exposure and for Joey, it means more than that too... He's looking for someone to settle down with, so it's not about the money he can make on the other side.”
The reports come after Essex was dumped from Love Island villa a day before the final along with Potts.
The ITV2 star entered the ITV2 dating series as the show’s “first celebrity contestant” and was voted out by the other hopefuls.
The islanders said he and Jessy were the “least compatible couple”.
He has previously been on the UK and Australian editions of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! along with the show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Celebrity MasterChef, Celebs Go Dating and Dancing On Ice.
Essex said: “It feels good to be leaving, I feel like I had an amazing run in there, went through the full cycle of emotions you get in the villa, and if you have to leave, you might as well go out with a bang… It’s my birthday on Monday so feels like I’m going out at a good time.”
During his stint, he flirted with Harriett Blackmore, Samantha Kenny, his ex Grace Jackson, and other women before coupling up with Leicester brand partnerships associate Jessy, saying he “fancied her straight away”.
Essex said: “I could tell we had an instant connection and she was a bit of me. We had something that was quite strong, and hopefully proved that to people by sticking with each other throughout Casa and right up to the end.”
When asked if he had any regrets, he said: “With Samantha, perhaps it would have been better if we’d drawn a line under it earlier on and just focused on having a friendship.
“With Grace, I don’t feel like there were any hard feelings but as I’ve said it was difficult living with an ex while getting to know someone else. Generally though the two of us were always cool.”
Love Island The Live Final airs on Monday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX
