The ITV show has been hit by a string of departures, and was beaten in the Christmas Day ratings by ‘The Weakest Link’. Nick Hilton looks at whether, in a world of streaming and reality TV, soaps can adapt to survive
During the latest episode of Southern Hospitality, Maddi Reese revealed that rumors about Joe Bradley’s sexuality delayed the start of their relationship — and TJ Dinch was to blame.
“Three or four years ago, TJ spread a bunch of rumors that I was gay,” Joe told newbie Austin Stephan during the Thursday, January 9, episode of the Bravo show.
Austin wasn’t surprised by the revelation, telling Joe that TJ “used to tell me the same s—. He would straight up tell me that you were gay.”
Maddie, who is currently dating Joe, confessed that the stories around town made her hesitate to act on her feelings toward him.
“Three years ago, everyone was talking about the rumor,” Maddi recalled. “So, of course, I kinda believed TJ when he told me Joe is flirty, or fruity, or what’s the word? Gay.”
She confessed, “That was the reason why I did not hook up with Joe for a long time.”
Maddi said since she began seeing Joe, she can confirm the rumors aren’t true. “Obviously, I’ve slept with Joe. I sleep with Joe. He likes p—,” she declared.
Joe, for his part, said that he confronted TJ when he heard the rumors, but TJ vehemently denied that he started them.
“I said, ‘Why the f— you would say that to people?’ And he said, ‘No, I would never say that. I would never tell anyone that. I promise you I didn’t do it,’” Joe told the cameras, admitting, “Since I am a very trusting person, I believed it. And now I’m paying for it.”
Joe claimed that his one-time best friend “makes you believe you can trust him and then he’ll f— you over.”
In addition to allegedly spreading rumors about his sexuality, Joe took issue with TJ telling people that he hooked up with Luann de Lesseps in January 2024 when he said he told him the truth in confidence.
“That’s when it hit me. TJ’s the one telling people that I’m gay,” Joe said during Thursday’s episode. “Because he’s the mouth of the South.”
TJ Dinch and Joe Bradley.Paul Cheney/Bravo
Us broke the news in January 2024 that Joe and Luann, 59, were spotted getting cozy at a New York City hotel after they met during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
During the season 2 Southern Hospitality reunion the following month, TJ told host Andy Cohen he was “99 percent” sure that Joe and Luann hooked up. Joe denied the allegations.
TJ revealed during the season 3 premiere, which aired on January 2, that he hadn’t spoken to Joe for months since their drama at the reunion.
TJ, however, remained adamant that not only did Joe kiss Luann but also “cheated” on his then-girlfriend, Danielle Olivera, with the Real Housewives of New York City alum. (Danielle, 36, confirmed her and Joe’s split in February 2024.)
Joe played somewhat coy about exactly what transpired with Luann during the season 3 premiere, but he did confirm to Us in December 2024 that he “kissed” her. He claimed that he wasn’t trying to hide anything but was still upset with TJ for breaking his trust.
Those trust issues have been front and center so far this season — especially since Maddi is still friends with TJ, which Joe confessed worries him. (Joe and Maddi exclusively told Us that they’ve been dating since April 2024, which is right around the time the cameras picked back up.)
“It was also kinda pissing me off that you were being so buddy-buddy with him,” Joe told Maddi during the new episode, referring to her conversation with TJ at a group party one week prior.
Maddi, however, maintained that her friendship with TJ shouldn’t affect her relationship with Joe.
Joe Bradley and Maddie Reese.Bryan Steffy/Bravo
“You can be friends with somebody and have boundaries,” she told her boyfriend. “You know you can’t trust [TJ] with your to the grave s—, you obviously know that, but there’s no reason he can’t be your friend.”
Joe claimed, “Me and TJ’s problems are way deeper.” Maddi pointed out that they aren’t “addressing the elephant in the room.”
Fans will continue to see Joe and TJ’s drama unfold with every new episode. In fact, Joe exclusively told Us ahead of the season that TJ’s “mindset” will “make a lot more sense once you watch it.”
He teased, “Some people thinks that he has feelings for me, [but] I think that’s in the past, but who knows? This season everyone will kind of find out TJ’s true colors and why he’s acting the way he is towards me.”
Southern Hospitality airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
Zac Efron‘s brother Dylan Efron has already made a lasting impression onThe Traitors — but what else is there to know about the season 3 contestant?
The Traitors, which premiered in January 2025, brought together reality TV stars from various franchises as they competed in a mafia-style game for up to $250,000. Despite appearing to be a natural on camera, Dylan previously admitted that he wasn’t sure he wanted to follow in his brother’s acting footsteps.
“I’ve been behind the camera. But being able to not stay behind the scenes has been a really nice change,” Dylan exclusively told Us Weekly in September 2023 about his plans to try something new. “So I think as long as I can kind of wear all those hats and still kind of craft the stories I want to tell [that would be great]. To be able to experience it firsthand, it’s really nice. It’s a good mix of both worlds.”
While Zac rose to stardom after landing a multitude of TV and movie roles, Dylan enjoyed playing a smaller role behind the scenes. His transition to taking part in a competition show came after Dylan previously admitted he wasn’t trying to pretend to be someone he wasn’t.
“What Zac does, I could never do. I play myself in front of a camera while Zac’s playing characters. It is two different skill sets,” he added at the time. “He can play different characters and I can only play myself.”
Dylan’s commitment to staying true to himself should serve him well on The Traitors. Keep scrolling for everything to know about Dylan Efron amid his stint on the Peacock series:
What Does Dylan Actually Do?
When asked by Wells Adams during the Traitors season 3 premiere, Dylan said he is best known for his work on “social media.” But Dylan has left a lasting impression online courtesy of his sweet bond with brother Zac and his work in the entertainment industry.
Dylan got his start as a physical production coordinator on movies like Jersey Boys, American Sniper, Get Hard and The Accountant. From there, Dylan went on to become an assistant on Unforgettable, Ready Player One and A Star Is Born. His most recent work consisted of performing stunts on Disney+’s shows The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.
To follow the Efrons on social media is to bless your timeline with adorable family photos featuring Dylan and Zac’s younger siblings. The brother’s parents were married for nearly two decades before calling it quits in 2016. Dylan and Zac’s father, David Efron, ultimately moved on with second wife Jenny and they welcomed kids Olivia and Henry.
“My motto [for building a strong bond with brother Henry and sister Olivia] has just been FaceTime. I try to see them as much as I can,” Dylan told Us. “But really, I just think back and my brother was such a good brother to me and I want to be that for them. So it’s really just — I like thinking what they think of me and I want to be that presence for them.”
“Honestly, my little sister’s the sweetest. She doesn’t have favorites, so it’s more we’re playing with each other. But every time we see her — I can’t say enough about her. And then Henry too,” Dylan continued at the time. “He’s just getting to that age where he is [developing his] personality. So it is hard to even pick between the two of them really. I see myself so much in Henry and then [in] Olivia, I see Zac. She’s going to be an actress probably [because] she’s got such a big personality. Henry’s a little sports player.”
Does Dylan Have Reality TV Experience?
While Dylan has worked mainly on scripted projects, he was a producer on Netflix’s Down to Earth, which followed Zac as he traveled around the world and highlighted various life experiences, cultures, culinary ventures as well as green energy and sustainable living practices.
“I love doing stuff with my brother. There’s a really comforting thing being with family [and] doing this stuff. That’s always going to be high up there on what I love to do. But I think it’s good that we do things separately too,” Dylan exclusively told Us in September 2023. “Because I remember back in the day, we wanted to do a show together and I really wouldn’t have been prepared for that. He’s been in front of the camera his whole life and it’s been second nature for him. I was a shy little kid, so I’ve had to grow into that.”
Dylan said he would be thrilled to work with Zac on a project again in the future. “It’ll be the right time now,” he shared. “We’re still thinking [about what to do]. We’re in the thinking process. We really want to just take a step back and see what stories we want to tell, how we can do it and enjoy ourselves. We want to keep leveling it up.”
Dylan also worked on telling his own stories with a three-part 2023 YouTube series about surf culture in California.
Over the years, Dylan has documented his interest in surfing, skateboarding, kayaking and running.
“Something I quickly retired from was speed flying, where you are running off a cliff with a parachute and then you go really fast. I wanted to do it and I quickly retired from it once I did one. It’s really scary,” he revealed to Us in 2023. “If I went back to that, I would go back to just normal skydiving and stay away from that.”
He continued: “Especially when I’m on the road a lot, I don’t try to lift heavy weights. I just want to use my muscles and stretch and try to just keep my body limber. I don’t want to kill myself trying to use heavy weights so I just make sure to keep everything used. When you get in trouble is if you get used to sitting all day and then you don’t use your body at all.”
What Does Zac Think About Dylan’s Chances on ‘The Traitors’?
Before his time in Scotland aired on Peacock, Zac showed support for Dylan’s newest endeavor. “I think Dylan’s going to win,” Zac told E! News in June 2024. “I hope he does, because he’s so good at games. He always has been, since we were kids. He’s like the game master. … If anyone can do this, it’s him. I’m rooting for him.”
Travis Browne and Ronda Rousey.(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Ronda Rousey has given birth to her second child with husband Travis Browne.
The professional wrestler, 37, announced the arrival of their daughter via an Instagram post shared on Thursday, January 10.
“Our little girl came into this world during a windstorm into a city on fire, so grateful she made it safe and sound,” Rousey captioned the post, revealing their daughter’s name is “Liko’ula Pā’ūomahinakaipiha Browne ”
A video of the couple’s eldest daughter La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō, 2, visiting her mom and newborn sister in hospital alongside her dad accompanied the caption.
The athlete shared the news during her panel for her first graphic novel, Expecting the Unexpected, telling the crowd that she and Browne were expecting their second child.
Rousey and Browne, 42, tied the knot in August 2017 in Browne’s home state of Hawaii. The pair grew their family in September 2021 with the birth of their daughter, La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō. Browne is also a dad to sons Keawe and Kaleo from a previous relationship.
In October 2021, Rousey gave a glimpse into her experience of motherhood as she wrote about breastfeeding via an Instagram post.
“Our boys asked me the other day how I’m gunna feed Pō on the plane when we take her with us to Hawaii. And I was like ‘uhhh, same way I always do’ Then it occurred to me that they probably never seen anyone breastfeed before and weren’t sure if it was appropriate in public,” she wrote.
Rousey added that breastfeeding in public shouldn’t be seen as taboo as it’s a natural experience.
“Motherhood’s some badass, primal, beautiful s— that shouldn’t be hidden,” she added. “It still blows my mind that my body assembled this little person, pushed her out and now makes everything she needs to thrive It’s really nothing to be ashamed of, it’s something to brag about #normalizebreastfeeding #proudmama.”
Several months prior to the breastfeeding post, Rousey was candid about her experience with pregnancy and praised Browne for his support.
“I wish I could say that pregnancy feels amazing, that I’ve never felt more powerful as a woman. But it feels more like my organs are being crushed by the miracle of life,” Rousey wrote via a July 2021 Instagram post. “I’ve never felt more exhausted, unmotivated or aware of gravity. Some days I have to lay on my side for hours just to comfortably breathe. There’s no break, it’s a grind, I’m just trying to get through one day at a time.”
Rousey continued, “Thank God for Mr. Browne. Not a day goes by without him telling me I’m beautiful, sexy, loved, and appreciated. He holds my belly to give me breaks from carrying, gives me bites of everything he’s eating, then drags me hissing into the sunlight when I wanna go full Gollum. He makes me proud to put on a swimsuit and show the world what I sometimes want to hide from myself.”
Hilary Swank, Jamie Lee CurtisRachel Luna/Getty Images ; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Many A-List actors and actresses have been candid about various movies where the salary didn’t match the role.
Hilary Swank starred in the 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry, receiving her first Academy Award for the performance . While Swank was applauded for her peers, she only received a salary of $3,000.
Meanwhile, when Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original Halloween film at age 19 in 1978, she received only $8,000. In addition to the money she received from acting, she also was tasked with staying on a $200 budget for her character’s wardrobe.
Keep scrolling to see what other stars have received shockingly low salaries in some big name movies:
Sean William Scott
While Sean William Scott had his breakout role in American Pie as Steve Stifler, his initial paycheck doesn’t match up to what the now cult classic is worth. Scott earned $8,000 for the entire movie, which ended up grossing $235 million at the box office.
“I think so, yeah, because I remember afterward I bought a used Thunderbird for like $5,000 or maybe $6,000, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, baby,’” Scott said of what he did with his earnings during a March 2022 appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. “I don’t know what happened to the other $2,000 because I ended up having to work at the LA Zoo as a churro guy, so maybe it was even less than $8,000.”
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan ReynoldsJamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Before making Deadpool a household name, Reynolds confessed that his paycheck was not all that it appeared to be while filming the first superhero flick.
“No part of me was thinking when Deadpool was finally greenlit that this would be a success,” the actor said in a July 2024 interview with The New York Times. “I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen. They wouldn’t allow my cowriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.”
Christopher Lee
Lee starred in the 1973 film, The Wicker Man, and opted not to take a salary so the movie could get made.
“I got paid nothing. I keep repeating to people and they don’t believe it’s true,” he said in the 2001 documentary The Wicker Man Enigma, per The Independent. “If they paid me my normal fee – and everyone else their normal fees – they wouldn’t have been able to make the film.”
Hilary Swank
Hilary SwankRaymond Hall/GC Images
“So when I did Boys Don’t Cry, I was 24 years old. I made $3,000. In order to have health insurance, you have to make $5,000. So I didn’t even know that I didn’t have health insurance until I went and tried to get a prescription filled,” Swank recalled during an October 2016 appearance on Chelsea Handler’s Netflix self-titled talk show. “They said, ‘That’s $160.’ I went, ‘Um, did you try my insurance?’ They said, ‘Mmm-hmm.’ I had an Academy Award, no health insurance.”
Ethan Hawke
Hawke shared in an June 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly that while working on The Purge he didn’t have a big salary and even “slept on the producers’ couch” throughout the filming. The actor confessed that he believed in the horror’s premise and wanted to be a part of it no matter the cost.
“I’ve never really prioritized making money that way. I decided months ago that I loved The Purge and I felt it was a cool movie,” he said. “I would love it [even] if it bombed. I’ve had so few movies ever make money in my 20-year career. I’ve learned not to care about it.”
Jeff Daniels
Jeff DanielsJohn Lamparski/Getty Images
While Daniels starred in Dumb and Dumber alongside Jim Carrey, the Newsroom alum allegedly had a significantly smaller salary. Daniels made $50,000 while Carrey reportedly received $7 million. The writer-director duo Bobby and Peter Farrelly recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in November 2014 how the movie studio didn’t want to cast Daniels in the role due to his lack of a comedic background, despite the Farrelly brothers wanting him to get the role.
“The studio didn’t want him. They said, ‘Please, anyone but him. Get a comedic actor,’” Bobby said. “So they offered him, if I recall, 50 grand, which was, you know, Jim’s getting seven mil, they offered him 50 figuring he’ll say, ‘No, I’m not taking that,’ but he took it.”
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee CurtisFrazer Harrison/Getty Images
“I made $8,000. I made $2,000 a week, which at the time was a fortune,” Curtis told People magazine in October 2018 of her original Halloween salary and added that the crew was small and young. “20 people, maybe 15. The oldest person was 30. Every other person was under 30. It was magic. A friend of somebody cooked the food each day and we all ate on the ground together.”
In addition to acting, Curtis also got a $200 budget for her character’s clothing which she used at JCPenney.
Nick Castle
Much like Curtis, Castle — who played the infamous Michael Meyer — did not have a big salary on Halloween but he found the on set experience to be much richer.
“I was paid $25 per day for Halloween. That was a lot at the time!” he recalled to Vanity Fair in October 2018. “You have to remember: my interest in doing the film was being on set, so I could demystify the experience of filmmaking and directing. I expected to hang around the set for no money. But hey, $25 per day, and all I had to do was wear a rubber mask.”
Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. HensonAmy Sussman/Getty Images
While working on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button alongside Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Henson was initially offered $100,000 for her role despite asking for $500,000. After some negotiating, Henson received $150,000 for the role which earned her an Academy Award nomination.
“I want to make this very clear — I’m not saying that Brad or Cate shouldn’t have gotten what they got. They put asses in seats, so give them their money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they’re getting,” Henson reflected in an April 2019 interview with Variety. “I was just asking for half a million — that’s all. That’s it. When I was doing Benjamin Button, I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we were asking for what was fair for me, at the time.”
Rebel Wilson
Rebel WilsonJoe Maher/Getty Image
Before Pitch Perfect, Wilson appeared in Bridesmaids. In her memoir, Rebel Rising, Wilson revealed she made $3500 for her scenes with costars Kristen Wiig and Matt Lucas. The amount was the minimum required for her to be able to join the SAG-AFTRA union, which was enough for Wilson.
Terrence Howard
Terrence HowardMark D. Gunter/FilmMagic
Howard claimed that in addition to having a small salary for his leading role in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow he also didn’t get any royalties for his singing.
“I made $12,000 for doing Hustle & Flow,” the actor said in a November 2023 interview with WREG News Channel 3. “What Paramount did, instead of putting my name as Terrence Howard performing the songs, they put ‘performed by DJay.’ Well, they owned DJay, so guess what? The performance royalties went to Paramount,” he claimed.
Jennifer Lopez
US singer and actress Jennifer Lopez arrives for Elle’s 2023 Women in Hollywood celebration, at Nya Studios in Los Angeles, California, on December 5, 2023.Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images
Lopez revealed that she opted not to take a salary for her performance in Hustlers. However, she did produce the crime comedy.
“I didn’t get paid a whole bunch of money for Hustlers,” she said in a November 2019 interview with GQ. “I did it for free and produced it. Like Jenny From the Block — I do what I love.”
Adam Levine
The Maroon 5 frontman made his acting debut in the 2013 rom-com Begin Again and ultimately decided to do it for free.
“I did this movie for no money. I’m very lucky that I’m in that position,” Levine said in an interview with USA Today in June 2014. “I want to have good experiences. I don’t want to do a bunch of s— that I hate. I want to treat [acting] completely differently because I have the very fortunate luxury of not having to think of this in terms of money.”
George Clooney
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Clooney got paid $1 each for writing, directing, and acting in Good Night, and Good Luck, earning a total of $3. The actor later shared that his desire to do the movie was inspired by his father’s work ethic as a journalist.
“It’s me saying [to my father], ‘Thanks for setting the bar that high, for believing so strongly in the responsibility of information,’ and taking it to the level where it cost him a lot of things over the years,” Clooney reflected to the LA Times in September 2005. “There were jobs he left because he wasn’t willing to compromise.”
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