Endemol hits back at Equity

Equity questioned the legality of not paying contestants at least minimum wage, as the show has required acts to waive their protections under working time laws, as well as assign all rights in their performances to Endemol, which makes the show through its subsidiary Initial.

The union contrasted this approach with BBC1's in-house talent shows How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, in which all finalists had industry-standard contracts with pay rates well above minimum wage.

Endemol criticised Equity for not contacting the company directly to discuss the matter.

"From the very beginning we have taken independent advice about this in order to ensure we are acting fairly, responsibly and in line with common practice,” Endemol said.

“We're surprised that Equity has issued a press release rather than contacting us directly. We're very happy to talk to them but would obviously prefer not to do so via press releases."

Equity is not in a position to take direct action against Endemol or the BBC and has urged members involved in the show to come forward.

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