'Broke and homeless' Steve-O on tiny amount he received in first Jackass paycheck

'Broke and homeless' Steve-O on tiny amount he received in first Jackass paycheck 'I was broke, unemployed, and homeless, and a star on this big MTV show. That’s one of the first things I learned about fame: It comes a lot easier than fortune' Jackass exploded onto MTV nearly three decades ago - if you can believe it - with eight little words that would soon go from a meaningless sentence to the opener of a TV smash hit. As the show's opener, those eight were: "Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville and welcome to Jackass ". Knoxville, as well as his 11 castmates, skyrocketed to fame almost overnight with a TV show made up of a compilation of pain-inducing stunt performances and dumb pranks on each other and the public. And, even though Knoxville was considered to be the lead man of the rag-tag bunch, it was Stephen Gilchrist Glover, more commonly known as 'Steve-O', who always seemed to end up doing the most out-there of stunts. In a recent interview with Playboy, Steve-O gave fans a sneak peek behind the scenes of the first days of Jackass, including just how little they were paid to put their lives on the line. "I was broke, unemployed, and homeless, and a star on this big MTV show. That’s one of the first things I learned about fame: It comes a lot easier than fortune," the now-52-year-old said. "It’s comical how little I was paid for the first season of Jackass. I didn’t even get paid per episode. I got paid per bit. After five days of filming, I was all banged up, hungover, had been bitten by a shark, and I pulled out a piece of paper to write down what I felt really needed to be on the show." He then went on to recount coming up with one of his most memorable, most stomach-churning stunts of all. "At the top I wrote “Goldfish,” and I thought, while I’m at it, I might as well put what I expect to be paid. Next to “Goldfish,” I literally wrote $200." 'The Goldfish' featured Steve-O swallowing a live goldfish and then regurgitating it into a fishbowl. It was also his first appearance in the Jackass franchise when it went to air. And, for those who haven't seen it, the stunt ended with an unharmed goldfish. "I could have totally choked on the goldfish. If it went down backwards somehow, I would have completely torn up my throat. But I had so much pride, and I wanted to be considered so gnarly. It was purely pride and ego. I wrote $200." He went on to reveal how much he charged for another famous early stunt: "I got bitten by a shark... I charged $500 for that." So how much did he end up with all up for season one of a show that would boost him to international fame? $1500. "Yep. When it was all said and done, after taxes, I was paid less than $1,500 for the entire first season of Jackass. Before the show came out, my sister kicked me out of the house," Steve-O revealed. The wild revelations didn't end there during Steve-O's recent Playboy interview. Before Jackass, he revealed he actually went to Clown College in an attempt to be taken more seriously as his chosen career as a stuntman and wasn’t “getting any traction.” The Jackass original cast member said he remembered thinking that if he became “a trained circus professional,” people would “take [him] more seriously” in the field. He then added, jokingly that he was “the only guy going to Clown College to seek legitimacy.” Jackass aired for three short seasons on MTV between 2000 and 2001, co-starring Knoxville, Bam Margera and more. And, even though Knoxville pulled the plug on TV show less than a year after it began, it was followed by numerous movies and spin-off shows. But this time it is over for real. The franchise will end with its final film, Jackass: Best and Last, out in theatres on July 2. Steve-O even confirmed it’s “100 per cent the end", adding: “That’s what this movie is … one last hurrah of all of us getting together and doing whatever we have in us to do."