Kyle Sandilands, Nick Kyrgios among stars making money on Cameo | Full list

Some of our biggest stars are pocketing secret cash from personal video messages. Here is who is cheapest, most expensive and most famous on the app.

It is easy cash if you are popular enough.

Reality stars, actors, singers and sports men and women have turned to online video app Cameo at a time when the entertainment industry has been crippled by the global pandemic.

From just a few dollars at the bottom of the rung to thousands for the likes of radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands, it is up to individuals to set their price on what they charge for personal video messages to fans.

KIIS FM breakfast host Sandilands has spoken about using the site, bragging about his high asking price of $1000 for a short message.

“You can get me or Caitlyn Jenner if you want,” he said on his radio show. “I think I’m the dearest on there. I did it on purpose so I don’t have to do it.”

Olympic swimmer Kyle Chalmers charges just $30 for a personal message and was prolific on the site while in hotel quarantine in the Northern Territory after competing at the Tokyo games.

“I have obviously got my price set pretty cheap just because I know everyone is struggling in lockdown at the moment,” Chalmers told Confidential. “If I can bring some happiness to people and do the odd video message to whoever, I have been doing between five and 10 per day which has been awesome. It has given me something to do during the day but also if I am able to bring that 30 second to a minute of happiness to people, it makes me feel good about myself as well.”

To compare on the international scale, Cedric the Entertainer, who hosted the Emmy Awards this week, charges $250 for a message while A Clockwork Orange actor Malcolm McDowell is on the site with a $100 price tag, rapper Ice Cube is $750 and Tommy Lee is $500.

“We are in the business of relationship-building; and with Cameo, we’ve created a direct-to-fan platform where talent and fans can co-create meaningful connections,” Cameo Australia boss Sam McDonagh said.

Cameo this week announced the addition of a new service called Cameo Calls, whereby punters can pay for celebrities to call them directly.

A spokeswoman for the platform added: “Talent control every aspect of their Cameo experience including their pricing and availability across our suite of products at any given time. The talent that do best on Cameo are those that genuinely care about connecting with their fans and let their personalities shine through the screen. Many new talent joining the platform have risen in popularity, irrespective of the price.”

One Sydney mum told of recently using the app to buy video messages for her sister for her birthday. She forked out $600 for a 17 second message from Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan.

She also bought a video from Married At First Sight contestant Cyrell Paule, who earned $60 for singing happy birthday, and Yummy Mummies reality star Rachel Watts sent her personal wishes for $35.

“I bought three Cameos for my sister’s 40th birthday,” she said.

“With NSW in hard lockdown, I thought this was a nice surprise for her because she lived in one of the state’s ‘area of concern’ at the time. None of us could visit her because my whole family live in separate LGAs and there were restrictions prohibiting us from seeing her. It was a bit of fun and a good way to say happy birthday during these pretty isolating times. My sister loved the surprise. It made her day – she was absolutely shocked.”