Abbie Chatfield made headlines this week when she finally confirmed rumours she once took cash to tip off paps to her location during her days as a C-list reality star.
While she may be one of the few media personalities brave enough to admit it, Chatfield is far from the only one calling snappers on the sly.
This dubious publicity ploy runs rampant among those desperate for the spotlight.
From Pip Edwards being outed by a young photographer to TV types caught begging for staged pics, here are some of the industry’s more shameless examples.
Pip Edwards
In December 2022, Pip Edwards was left red-faced when leaked messages revealed she had arranged her own paparazzi shoots.
Pip Edwards was left red-faced after Instagram DMs were leaked that exposed her for setting up her own pap shoots. (This photo of Pip is not the one being referred to in this article)
Edwards accused one snapper of making her look ‘wide’, ‘short’ and ‘stumpy’
Embarrassing Instagram DMs showed the P.E. Nation co-founder inviting a Sydney paparazzo to capture her outside her eastern suburbs office in July 2022 – and orchestrating similar ‘candid’ shots for two of her celebrity mates the year before.
She even joked to the photographer that he’d made her look ‘wide’, ‘short’ and ‘stumpy’.
‘Come back to my office and get a better pic. No seriously, come on. I want to give you a better one,’ Edwards wrote to the snapper on July 28, 2022.
‘If you want me to, I’ll come back. You’re the boss,’ the paparazzo replied, to which Edwards wrote back: ‘It’s a two-way street! It’s gotta work out for me too.’
In another message, she told the photographer she would soon be going for a walk and promised him a ‘clean shot’.
Further screenshots showed Edwards complaining she looked ‘wide’ and ‘short and stumpy’ in earlier pap photos. She then suggested the photographer take better ones from a ‘different angle’ in the future.
She contacted the same photographer weeks later, asking him for ‘a favour’ – to take paparazzi photos of her ‘mates’ Darren McMullen and Milly Gattegno in Bondi Beach.
Like clockwork, Edwards was papped that same day with McMullen and Gattegno outside Japanese restaurant Raw Bar.
Leaked Instagram messages appeared to show the P.E Nation founder inviting the paparazzo to photograph her outside her eastern suburbs office
The designer said she would soon be going for a walk and promised the snapper a ‘clean shot’
Further screenshots showed Edwards complaining she looked ‘wide’ and ‘short and stumpy’ in earlier pap photos. She suggested the photographer take better ones from a ‘different angle’
She contacted the same photographer weeks later, asking him for ‘a favour’ – to take paparazzi photos of her ‘mates’ Darren McMullen and Milly Gattegno in Bondi Beach
When contacted by Daily Mail at the time, Edwards insisted she had never staged a paparazzi set and accused the paparazzo of leaking their texts in retaliation after he was told to leave a photo shoot days earlier.
She went on to say that being photographed by paparazzi had damaged her self-esteem and she no longer wanted to be in front of the camera at all.
Cheryl Maitland
A brouhaha erupted in June 2017, when a Sydney photographer accused MAFS star Cheryl Maitland of staging ‘candid’ paparazzi photos.
Posting to Instagram, Jayden Seyfarth shared a series of texts in which the former topless waitress was trying to coordinate a staged photo shoot.
He captioned the exchange: ‘When they need to stay relevant.’
Following the embarrassing incident, Maitland confirmed she had negotiated staged sets with Seyfarth because she was annoyed by other photographers.
‘[Seyfarth] messages me all the time to see where I am. I’m frankly getting annoyed with paps taking photos of me when I don’t know and it [puts] me on edge every day,’ she explained.
‘I mentioned to him I would be in Melbourne and if he wanted to meet me there that was fine.
‘The paps are going to take photos of me no matter what, so if I already know I won’t be so stressed out and they won’t be following me as much.’
A brouhaha erupted in June 2017, when a Sydney photographer accused MAFS star Cheryl Maitland (pictured) of staging ‘candid’ paparazzi photos
Posting to Instagram, Jayden Seyfarth shared a series of texts in which the former topless waitress was trying to coordinate a staged photo shoot
Following the embarrassing incident, Maitland confirmed she had negotiated staged sets with Seyfarth because she was annoyed with other photographers
Skye Wheatley
Hours after leaking Maitland’s text messages, Seyfarth accused former Big Brother contestant Skye Wheatley of staging paparazzi photos for profit.
Seyfarth hinted at a business relationship gone wrong as he captioned a screenshot of a conversation with Skye: ‘Don’t f**k me over lol.’
It is believed the staged set being discussed by Seyfarth and Wheatley related to her visit to the Bondi Junction Private Hospital for a breast consultation in May 2016.
The exchange appeared to show the pair had come to an agreement to split profits on the sales of the pictures ’50/50′ after Wheatley demanded ‘a cut of the photos’.
The messages also seemingly confirmed discussion of Wheatley’s arrival in Sydney for the ‘boob consultation’.
Hours after leaking Maitland’s text messages, Seyfarth accused former Big Brother contestant Skye Wheatley of staging paparazzi photos for profit
Seyfarth hinted at a business relationship gone wrong as he captioned a screenshot of a conversation with Wheatley: ‘Don’t f**k me over lol’
Wheatley told Daily Mail in a statement at the time: ‘I don’t understand why he would post that. Like who am I, Kim Kardashian?
‘I told him I’d be in Sydney if he wanted to take some photos and he said yes. That was so long ago. I don’t understand why he is posting that conversation.’
Wheatley also alleged Seyfarth had delayed paying her for several months after the photos were published, and had not responded to her messages.
When Seyfarth agreed to pay Wheatley, she claimed he brought along another photographer to document the meeting and ‘set her up’
When Seyfarth agreed to pay Wheatley, she claimed he brought along another photographer to document the meeting and ‘set her up’.
She added: ‘There’s always two sides to a story – don’t believe everything you read. I feel sorry for super-famous people who have to deal with this but far worse.
‘I feel as though he’s trying to maybe get his name out there – otherwise what’s the point in posting that? I do not know.
‘We should lift each other up in a positive way and not try [to] make them out to be a horrible human being.’
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt
Reality TV royalty Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have shamelessly admitted to orchestrating their own paparazzi shoots for years.
In one of their most infamous stunts, in 2008, Heidi was pictured crying outside her apartment after her debut single, Higher, received scathing reviews.
In the melodramatic shots, Heidi clutched a CD of Higher, her forehead in her hand, the picture of despair.
Reality TV royalty Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have shamelessly admitted to orchestrating their own paparazzi shoots for years
‘Speidi’ credit themselves as the inventors of the staged pap set.
Heidi said on a podcast last year: ‘We’ve always been really transparent about calling paparazzi and being in on it, set-ups, I mean, that’s really what we’re known for.’
The couple have previously accused the Kardashians of copying their tactics.
‘I know for a fact that they copied our paparazzi set-up deal with the same agency we worked with – obviously they won’t say that but I can say that,’ Spencer said in 2021.
‘They have the same partnership, they probably had a better end deal, but whatever.’
Heidi explained that she and Spencer prioritised turning even their most mundane moments into headline-ready photos – unlike others who simply left it to chance.
‘I think without paparazzi styled like our setups were, and what we would do in the beach bikini photos… Other people will go out to the beach, they wouldn’t set it up and work with the photographer,’ she said.
Elle Macpherson
In January 2024, Elle Macpherson found herself in an awkward paparazzi moment outside Crown Sydney.
While the 61-year-old supermodel had not arranged the media scrum, she repeatedly entered and exited the hotel to give the photographers the best shot possible.
Published photos showed her hand-in-hand with her boyfriend Doyle Bramhall as they strolled back and forth in full view of the cameras.
An onlooker filmed the bizarre back-and-forth.
‘They did this cringe walking-in thing about 250 times – no exaggeration,’ he said.
In January 2024, Elle Macpherson found herself in an awkward paparazzi moment outside Crown Sydney
An onlooker filmed the bizarre back-and-forth. ‘They did this cringe walking-in thing about 250 times – no exaggeration,’ he said
Michael Turnbull
In May 2018, ex-Bachelorette star Michael Turnbull was left scrambling after leaked texts showed him arranging a ‘fake date’ with fellow reality star Alex Nation – just so they could sell the photos.
Screenshots of their Instagram exchange showed Turnbull politely approaching Nation about an ‘opportunity’.
‘Hi Alex, would like to chat about an opportunity with you 🙂 – Michael x,’ he wrote.
In May 2018, Bachelorette star Michael Turnbull (pictured) was left scrambling after leaked text messages appeared to show him arranging a ‘fake date’ with fellow reality star Alex Nation to sell photographs
Nation responded: ‘Hey! How are you, Michael? How has everything been for you post BIP [Bachelor In Paradise]? Talk to me.’
After a brief back and forth, Turnbull asked: ‘Did you want to do some pics? Just a coffee or something? That could be good?’
She replied: ‘Thanks for the offer but I’ll decline this one. Enjoy Melbourne and maybe I’ll see you around at some events and we can have a drink or something then.’
Speaking to Daily Mail at the time, Turnbull denied staging photos and slammed Nation for ‘sending private messages to the media for a few dollars’.
Screenshots of their alleged Instagram exchange show Michael politely approaching Alex (pictured) about an ‘opportunity’
Abbie Chatfield
Abbie Chatfield confessed this week she once accepted money to tip off paparazzi to her whereabouts.
The 30-year-old revealed on her podcast, It’s a Lot, that she pocketed $1,000 for staging pics shortly after her 2019 appearance on The Bachelor.
‘When I was fresh out of The Bachelor, I was dating The Bachelorette’s Todd [King], and we organised with some paparazzi to take photos of us at the beach,’ Chatfield said.
Back in the day, Abbie Chatfield once accepted money to tip off paparazzi to her whereabouts
The 30-year-old revealed on her podcast, It’s a Lot, that she pocketed $1,000 for staging pics with then-boyfriend Todd King (right) shortly after her 2019 appearance on The Bachelor
‘We were going anyway, and it was $1,000! We thought, “Yeah, that will pay for flights from Perth.”‘
Chatfield explained the photo shoot was coordinated via a journalist, who acted as a go-between and passed on the location details to a photographer in Queensland.
‘It was done through a journalist, who told the paparazzi where we were going to be. I have done it once for money, because I still had a 9 to 5, and $1,000 is a lot of money,’ she added.
‘We were going to go to the beach anyway, so if you are doing it for money, then go off, queen!’
The staged photos were taken at Noosa Beach in October 2019
The staged pics were taken at Noosa Beach in October 2019 and captured Chatfield in a bikini as she passionately kissed King, a runner-up from The Bachelorette.
Chatfield said last year that she does not regularly tip off the paparazzi, noting that most pap photos of her these days are boring, candid shots of her walking her dog.
However, she believes it is okay for celebrities to alert photographers about their whereabouts – if the money from the sale is fairly distributed between them.
‘If you can get paid for it, why not? The reason why I did it with my boyfriend at the time is the money. I wouldn’t do it again unless it was for a lot of money.’
Ben McDonald, CEO of Matrix Media Group, told Daily Mail in 2024 that many celebs have a working relationship with the paparazzi as a means of controlling their image.
He said that throughout his career he has developed working relationships with all kinds of celebrities, including Hollywood A-listers and reality stars.
