Tuesday 4th March
The makers of hit BBC1 talent show The One and Only have been accused of potentially acting illegally by failing to pay the tribute acts who took part.
The show, in which people impersonating stars battled to win a performing contract in Vegas, was won by Katy Setterfield as Dusty Springfield.
Unlike previous BBC talent shows How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, the participants weren't even paid the minimum wage.
The Maria and Any Dream shows were made in-house at the BBC, while The One And Only was made by Endemol.
Actors' union Equity said that the show's contestants, including Lionel Richie impersonator Moni Tivony, signed contracts granting performance rights to Endemol and waived their protections under working time laws.
As a result they became employees of Endemol and therefore should have been paid by the company, Equity said. The union said Endemol had refused to pay the acts despite approaches by the union.
Andy Prodger, assistant general secretary, said: "Endemol is one of the biggest and most profitable independent TV producers, yet despite numerous approaches by Equity they have refused to pay even the smallest possible fee to the 24 contestants that made The One And Only such a big hit."
He added that, when the BBC produced their own talent shows, the Maria and Any Dream shows, "they acted honourably and engaged all the finalists on proper industry-standard contracts with pay rates well above national minimum wage".
Endemol released a statement, saying: "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."
It added they would be very happy to talk to them (Equity).
