How Much Money Do You Really Make on 'AYTO?'

Going on The Amazing Race, I get: $1 million, the chance for multiple resort trips sponsored by Expedia, and the opportunity to travel around the wold for free with a loved one. Going on Survivor, I get: $1 million, the chance to show what you're made of, and the opportunity to see live and in person how many times Jeff Probst can scream "You've gotta GRAB THE BALLS!" during a challenge. As a reality show, I get the concept of Are You the One : Young people in tank tops scan their fingerprints on iPads until the iPads tell them they're in love and they get to go to the sex suite. Simple. As a competition reality show, I'm not sure if AYTO is the best deal though: 21 people splitting $1 million? How much money do the Are You the One? winners actually get?

Putting the math simply, now that the Season 2 contestants finally figured out all of their perfect matches, they are each walking away with $47,619. Well, no that's not right, because you have to think about taxes. The contestants always talk about winning "a million dollars," but what they should really be talking about in such dramatic tones is "winning $38,000." Now, I'm not laughing at $38,000. But I am thinking that there aren't many jobs that let you quit for three months to go find love with an iPad. So, these people all went on this show where they had grits poured on them and were either rejected or standing in a single file line for the boom boom room as probably their main form of income this year, and that income totaled $38,000. Let's consider how they came out of it...

What You Can Buy with $38,000

Well, you could buy a new Acura, or perhaps more in the AYTO? wheelhouse, a whole hell of a lot of vodka tonics. You could pay for one year of tuition at a private college or a full four years at a state school. Ellie could pay her rent in Rockingham, N.C. for a few years, or when she inevitably moves to L.A. or New York, about half as long.

What You Can't Buy with $38,000

Well, you can't buy love, so let's put it out on the table that at least these people found the "looking for love" reality show that also offered a little cash at the end, beyond whatever check they might be getting per episode. Only Monday night's reunion will tell us if the love the 10.5 perfect matches found was worth the prize money.

Future Opportunities

Even if $38,000 isn't a ton of money, it is a very good amount of money, and now these people are on the MTV circuit. Now, they can get regular jobs and still grab some promotional money on the side when they host an event at a bar. And, of course, the MTV holy grail is reportedly now accepting AYTO visitors: The Challenge. Over there the prize money is bigger, but so are the buckets of grits. With his track record in AYTO? challenges and her sass, might I recommend Brandon and Briana?

Images: MTV; aroundeachtime/Tumblr; Giphy (2)