If you thought that sitting around watching TV was just a leisure activity, think again. Although there are countless wannabes desperate to see themselves on screen, it’s easier than you might think to be on TV – and make some money in the process.

• Earn £250 for your silly home videos
• Be a contestant on a gameshow
• Be an extra

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Be a contestant

“It’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts”, they say. No, actually, it is the winning if you want to make money out of being a contestant on a gameshow. Yes, it can be fun – and nerve-wracking – but the main point is…you can make big money.

Of the gameshows being aired at the moment, some can make you serious cash.

• Who Wants to be a Milionaire?

Recently voted as the best game show, Millionaire now exists in more than 100 countries.

Ten contestants qualify to take part, and the one in the hot seat is chosen via a timed question, giving them the chance to play for the £1mn prize money. The contestant must correctly answer 15 multiple-choice questions in a row to win the jackpot, but they can quit at any time and keep their earnings. They are also given three lifelines to aid their choices.

Brush up on all things trivia. Questions range from history, to sport, geography, popular culture – basically anything you’re local pub quiz might throw at you. Read the newspapers, research online, and watch the show for the kinds of questions that are asked. Remember to have a smart knowledgeable friend for your ‘phone a friend’ lifeline, and trust the audience most of the time!

The show has made five millionaires to date, with the average contestant earning just over £45,000.

Because of its popularity, the show constantly has a backlog of applicants. Keep a look out on the Millionaire website for casting auditions – they only become available for short times.

• Deal or No Deal

Known as entertainment drama, this big-money guessing game involves: “a quarter of a million pounds… 22 identical sealed boxes… and no questions. Except one: deal or no deal?”

There are 22 contestants, each holding a numbered box containing an unknown cash prize of between 1p and £250,000. One random contestant becomes the player, and the boxes are opened one by one with a banker offering the player money to buy back the box and leave the game, based on the values of the boxes left.

It is a game of pure chance, and past occurrences show that the top prize is more likely to be won by recklessness than good judgement. The £250,000 top prize was first won on 7 January 2007 by Laura Pearce, a civilian police worker from Hemel Hampstead.

Again, because of its popularity the show constantly has a backlog of applicants. You can apply to be a contestant on the Deal or No Deal website, but be aware it could be some time before you take the hot seat!

• The Weakest Link

A quiz show where the contestants vote each other out until the last person left wins all the cash that they’d accumulated as a team. There’s a possible £50,000 up for grabs amongst the nine contestants.

Failure to “bank” or safeguard the money won so far – or worse, answering the question wrongly and losing the lot – is guaranteed to earn you an early exit from the game.

The winner gets all the money won over all the rounds. The highest prize ever won on the daytime version was £5,420. The lowest was £750.

To get involved, send an email to weakestlink@bbc.co.uk or write to FREEPOST, THE WEAKEST LINK.

• Audition for Eggheads

Get a team of six together – friends and family – and challenge the Eggheads in the BBC quiz show.

Email for an application here, or visit the website. Deadline is 1 July, 2008.

If these don’t take your fancy, click here for the latest updates on contestant calls.

Be an extra

This really is something that anyone can do. As long as you have time to spare during the week and you live relatively close to a big city where filming happens, you can make money just by standing around!

Extras are used in all kinds of TV programmes as well as films. Dramas, soaps, even documentaries use “walk-ons” regularly. You can earn between £65 and £200 a day doing walk-on work, depending on the hours you do and if you bring your own props. Generally you will get the work through an agency but be careful when you choose – find a list of UK agencies at www.ukscreen.com, and double-check agencies on the UK entertainment union websites Equity or BECTU.

See our article here for a full rundown on how to become an extra.

Useful Links

• The BBC Be on a show homepage
• Deal or No Deal
• Casting auditions for Who Wants to be a Millionaire
• UK Gameshows contestant calls
• You’ve Been Framed!
• Ukscreen.com
• Equity
• BECTU
• Made money from TV? Tell us about it on our money making forum!