Bigg Boss 18: Know highest-paid contestants of Salman Khan’s reality show over the years

Fans are thrilled as India's popular reality show Bigg Boss is back with yet another season. Bigg Boss 18 will premiere tonight (October 6) at 9 PM on Colors TV and Jio Cinema. Throughout its 17 seasons, Bigg Boss has seen changes in both its themes and contestants and the prize money has also evolved over time.

Here's a look at cash prize amount in the last 17 seasons of Bigg Boss

The inaugural season of Bigg Boss aired in 2007, with actor Rahul Roy emerging as the winner and taking home a cash prize of Rs 1 crore. The season was hosted by Arshad Warsi.

Actor and reality show participant Ashutosh Kaushik won the second season of Bigg Boss, taking home a cash prize of Rs 1 crore. This season, hosted by actress Shilpa Shetty, aired in 2008. 

Vindu Dara Singh claimed victory in the third season, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, in 2009, also receiving Rs 1 crore as his prize. 

Popular television actress Shweta Tiwari won the trophy in Season 4, along with Rs 1 crore, marking the first season hosted by Salman Khan. 

Similar to the previous seasons, the cash prize for Bigg Boss Season 5 remained Rs 1 crore, with television actress Juhi Parmar emerging as the winner.

Bigg Boss Season 6 introduced a change in cash prizes, reducing the amount from Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh. Actress Urvashi Dholakia emerged as the winner of this season. The Rs 50 lakh prize remained consistent until Season 10, with Gauhar Khan winning Season 7, Gautam Gulati taking the trophy for Season 8, and reality star Prince Narula winning Season 9. Manveer Gurjar claimed victory in Season 10.

Starting from Season 11, the cash prize was further decreased and varied across subsequent seasons. 

Season 11 was won by actress Shilpa Shinde, who received Rs 44 lakh. Actress Dipika Kakkar won Rs 30 lakh as a cash prize for Season 12, while late actor Sidharth Shukla took home Rs 50 lakh after winning Bigg Boss 13. In Bigg Boss 14, television actress Rubina Dilaik won Rs 36 lakh.

Actress Tejaswi Prakash secured first place in Bigg Boss 15, earning Rs 40 lakh, while the winner of the following season, MC Stan, took home Rs 31.8 lakh. 

Last year, Munawar Faruqui emerged victorious in Bigg Boss 17, winning Rs 50 lakh.

In addition to the prize money, Bigg Boss often makes headlines for the high earnings of its contestants each year.

Pamela Anderson, the Canadian-American actress, was reportedly paid Rs 2.5 crore for her three-day stay in the house, making her the highest-paid contestant in the show's history. 

Actress Rimi Sen appeared in Bigg Boss 9 and reportedly received Rs 2 crore upon signing the show.

Professional wrestler The Great Khali reportedly earned Rs 50 lakh per week during his time in the Bigg Boss house. Similarly, cricketer Sreesanth was also reported to receive Rs 50 lakh weekly throughout his stint on the show.

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