Karen Dunbar: 'I earned more from karaoke than first BBC series of Chewin’ the Fat'

Scottish comedy favourite Karen Dunbar has revealed she earned more from hosting karaoke nights than starring in the first series of Chewin' the Fat.

Speaking at an International Women's Day debate in Glasgow, Dunbar also recalled feeling "ashamed' after getting paid more when BBC Scotland’s sketch show took off. The Ayrshire-born comic and actress said there was still an unwillingness to discuss fair pay in the entertainment industry and blamed the "class system" for deep-rooted inequalities.

Dunbar broke into the industry after attending open auditions hosted by The Comedy Unit, the production company behind Only An Excuse and Rab C Nesbitt. Following the success of Chewin' the Fat, which was created by Still Game stars Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, Dunbar was given her own comedy show.

Dunbar, who had no formal acting training, went on to appear in various theatre, TV and film productions, including Henry IV, Julius Caesar, Cyrano de Bergerac and Mary Queen of Scots.

Karen Dunbar. Picture: BBC Scotland

Dunbar was speaking at a “Women in Entertainment” event, along with STV presenter Laura Boyd, Gogglebox star Roisin Kelly, DJ and producer Taahliah, the SEC’s head of ticketing Julie Carson, and DF Concerts project and event manager Katt Lingard.

Dunbar said: "I'm feart about what I'm going to say. The reason we don't want to talk about money is because we're aware, at a very deep level, that it’s just dead unfair.

"There’s a bit of my brain going 'don't tell folk this’. I was a karaoke host and DJing from the age of 19 until I started in Chewin’ the Fat when I was 27, running my own businesses.

"I made more money doing that than I got from the first series of Chewin' the Fat. The point is I wasn't able to ask. I didn't know what my worth would be coming into television.

Karen Dunbar. Picture: Michael Hunter

"I just thought whatever they were offering was what I had to accept. I didn't know I could say 'could I get another £10 on that please?’

"That money went up as the show progressed and it got popular. There were times when I was thinking 'I feel ashamed about the money I’m getting'. I wasn't getting a squillion pounds either.

"Ultimately, if we all got paid the same the world would be a different place. We know that. The problem at the root of it all is the class system. I don't know how we start to disassemble it."

Glasgow-based Taahliah said: “When you work in the music industry, you just don't know what anyone else’s fee is. I get given a final figure and have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Karen Dunbar (far right) was speaking at a “Women in Entertainment” event in Glasgow, along with the SEC’s head of ticketing Julie Carson, Gogglebox star Roisin Kelly, STV presenter Laura Boyd, DF Concerts project and event manager Katt Lingard and DJ and producer Taahliah.. Picture: Michael Hunter

“I’ve done festivals where I didn’t get paid a thing. It was like ‘you should be lucky just to be on stage’.

"It’s so much harder for independent artists who are representing themselves. The people doing the negotiations are all men.”

Boyd said: “It’s a horrible awkward elephant in the room. I feel like it’s a conversation that needs to be brought more to the forefront.

"STV are very good, but I find it very difficult to bring up talking about money. There’s still this slight air in the entertainment industry that you should be grateful for having a job and doing what you love, and ‘you’re on TV, what more do you want?’”