Radio 2 presenter the Rev Kate Bottley has revealed she had to quit Gogglebox because the TV show was damaging her family’s home life – while being tied to it also started costing her money.
Bottley, who proved a hit on the show, said although she left with an excuse which led viewers to believe it was a temporary departure, she had no intention of returning.
Unaware how taking part would ‘take over our lives’, Bottley agreed to do the show to try and change the public perception of people of faith – but she said it ended up ‘consensual exploitation’.
She said her son Arthur, who she described as on the ‘autistic spectrum’, and daughter Ruby, then at school, missed out on help with their homework and visits from their friends, as they stayed in their rooms while a large crew were in their home.
Family meal times were also disrupted, while she and husband’s differing personalities led to public trolling.
Bottley was first approached by Channel 4 to appear on the show – where people are filmed giving their opinions on TV programmes – as a result of a viral video of a wedding she officiated at in 2013, where she danced to Kool & the Gang’s ‘Celebration’.
It had more than eight million YouTube views and landed her and husband Graham a Gogglebox contract the following year – with them going on to appear in five series up to 2016.
She said she joined the show to try and change the public perception of people of faith because she felt that whenever they were seen on TV it was in bad news stories or they were deemed as ‘weirdos’.
Bottley said: ‘I wish I’d known how much it took over our life for two and a half years.
‘It’s reality TV, it’s by its nature consensual exploitation.
‘So they come into your home. They’re filming in your home – it was quite intrusive really. But we consented to that intrusion, but I didn’t fully know just how. My kids spent two-and-a-half years sat in their bedrooms every Tuesday and Thursday night or whatever nights they came to film.
‘My kids didn’t have friends round for a lot (of the time), didn’t have help with their homework. Things like that.
‘And we got paid very little.
‘They paid, but I cooked two nights a week for the crew.
‘I’m married to a man who won’t eat takeaways, and I don’t want to be filmed eating on camera so I was like ‘no, I’ll cook’.
‘There were casseroles and chillis. So all the money we got from it went on the electricity, the internet connection that they were using, and the food and being hospitable to six people in my home two nights a week.
‘It’s a vicarage as well, I should be hospitable. We should be sharing our home to people, and eating food together.
‘It was a good two and a half years but we couldn’t have done any more. It got to the point where we were just a bit overwhelmed.’
As well as finding the modest amount of money she and Graham were paid disappearing, Bottley’s bubbly personality soon saw other more lucrative TV offers which were less intrusive start coming in – but while tied to Gogglebox she was not allowed to do them at the same time.
She said: ‘There’s quite tight exclusivity, and rightly so, because if you’re filming ordinary people sat on their sofa watching TV you can’t then have those people on the TV. It sort of breaks the fourth wall too much.’
Bottley, 50, who has two now grown-up children, said the offers came from well-known popular shows including Would I Lie To You?
She added: ‘I was offered stuff like that but wasn’t able to do it because Gogglebox wouldn’t let you do it.
‘That’s the whole joy of the show because as the viewer you side with the people on the show, because they’re you.
‘But the minute they start being on the telly it’s done. There was stuff coming in that I wanted to have a go at that I just wasn’t able contractually to do.’
While many viewers loved Bottley’s infectious personality, others criticised her for overshadowing her husband.
Speaking on the Walking the Dog podcast, she said: ‘We used to get that whole ‘Oh, you never let your husband speak’. It was like ‘Wow’. Be careful there, your misogyny’s showing
‘Of course if you’re a confident woman married to a quieter man he must be henpecked, and he must be bossed about – it’s not that he’s just naturally quieter.
‘In any relationship there’s someone that is more outgoing.’
Kate said being someone who was used to speaking in front of many people was bound to make her feel more comfortable speaking on TV.
Eventually, the family came up with an excuse for what was regarded as a break from the series, while not revealing they did not plan to return.
Kate said: ‘It so happened that it came around the time that Ruby was doing her GCSEs so the excuse we gave was ‘we’re going to take some time away while she does her exams’.’
However, Kate said Googlebox did serve to raise her public profile.
She became a series regular on Songs of Praise, before going on to appear on other TV shows and become a familiar voice on BBC radio stations, while Graham returned to his music teaching job.
