How McFly became reality TV kings and built £14m empire AWAY from music… as Danny Jones completes I'm a Celeb 'treble'

12/09/2024 10:18 AM

THEY sold more than 10 million records and even beat The Beatles by nabbing their Guinness World Record for youngest band with a debut No1 album.

But in recent years, Noughties favourites McFly are just as recognisable for conquering a ridiculous amount of reality shows as they are for their chart-topping hits.

Now they could be set to top up their £14million empire further thanks to Danny Jones winning I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! last night, the third time the band (and one of their partners) has bagged the top spot on the ITV reality show.

The victory for the McFly singer and lead guitarist joins Dougie Poynter's win in 2011 and Tom Fletcher's wife Giovanna taking the top spot four years ago.

It also follows Danny winning this year's The Masked Singer and Harry Judd lifting Strictly's Glitterball Trophy in 2011… before going on to finish runner-up on Celebrity Race Across The World.

As if that wasn’t enough reality TV already, Danny and Tom even popped up this year on The Voice, sharing a chair on the judging panel.

It's certainly been one hell of a year for Danny and 2025 could prove highly lucrative for him, according to brand and culture expert Nick Ede.

He tells The Sun that the singer, who's worth £4million, could make millions more from advertising campaigns as well as become the "next Robbie Williams or Olly Murs" – should he want to.

Nick explains: "Danny's future is very, very bright. He has always been a bit of a shining light but now he’s captured the hearts of the nation thanks to I'm A Celebrity and this will help him immensely. 

"The public sees him as a really nice, down-to-earth family man and someone who has always been nice to people. There's never been any edge to him, so he's a real safe pair of hands from a TV point of view and now is massively popular. 

"The future is golden for him but especially on TV. I could see him going down the Olly Murs route and getting presenting jobs or even his own game show, documentary or music programme. 

"Due to his popularity, Danny could also be used to rescue any number of existing TV shows that are struggling and bring a new lease of life to them. 

"He is extremely talented and winning this show for ITV cements his mark as a massive star. He has such a wide demographic of people who love him – from fans of McFly to those who watched The Voice, The Voice Kids or The Masked Singer and now I'm A Celebrity too. 

"In the past, many may have thought more of Tom as the main singer from McFly but now they will have realised Danny's incredible talent in the jungle. 

"If he wanted a new start, he could launch his own solo career now in the same way that Robbie Williams did when he split from Take That and make a fortune that way. 

"I can see Danny being the face of brands, especially lifestyle products, and social media campaigns, which could earn him millions. He will be climbing up the rich list ladder because the world is literally his oyster."   

While Danny's star is on the rise, he's not the only McFly member to carve out a sizeable fortune – and according to Nick, there's a clear reason why the boys continue to win over legions of fans, which earns them millions in the process.

He tells us: "Part of McFly's success is their authenticity. They are handsome, fun, cheeky and down-to-earth, not snobby at all, so they tick all the boxes. 

"One minute they are playing gigs for Children In Need and the next they are doing big arena tours and selling them out for five nights in a row, they have just become iconic.

Those qualities radiate in the cynical world that we live in, especially with the likes of Gregg Wallace and others drawing negative attention. McFly have managed to find longevity in the fickle celebrity world by doing the right thing

Nick Ede

“They are an all-encompassing pop band.

"Between them, they have been on some of the nation's biggest reality shows, which is a brilliant way of cementing your individual personality and building a strong fanbase.

"Their music and attitude has always been vanilla and family-friendly, which really works, you never hear controversial opinions from them – they are happy, kind and inclusive family men.

"And those qualities radiate in the cynical world that we live in, especially with the likes of Gregg Wallace and others drawing negative attention. McFly has managed to find longevity in the fickle celebrity world by doing the right thing." 

Here we look at fortunes of McFly and how their business savvy has not only topped up their bank balances but also kept them in the public eye.

Tom Fletcher – £4m

McFly frontman Tom Fletcher is tipped to become "the next Elton John or Andrew Lloyd Webber" thanks to some seriously lucrative moves. 

The singer, 39, was described as "the rich one" by Danny in the I'm A Celebrity jungle because he wrote some of the band’s biggest including Obviously, All About You and Five Colours in Her Hair. 

That's not all, Tom also penned three big tracks for Busted including Crashed The Wedding, the official 2012 London Olympics song On A Rainbow and One Direction's I Want. 

Nick tells us: "Tom has been very savvy. As a writer, you make a lot of money and he wrote some of the greatest songs by the band, he will get lots of great royalties.”

Alongside wife Giovanna Fletcher, whom he met aged 13 at Sylvia Young Theatre School, he also has a highly successful YouTube channel with 640,000 subscribers and 139million views in total.

If he gets it right, he could match Lloyd-Webber or even Elton John, who wrote the Billy Elliot and Lion King musicals

Nick Ede

Interestingly, she won I'm A Celebrity in 2020, making it the third victory on the popular ITV programme that has been linked to the band.

Tom also appeared on Strictly back in 2021, alongside Amy Dowden.

Tom, who is reportedly worth just short of £4million, has also written at least 26 books of his own and has two more in the pipeline, in addition to three with his wife, whom he wed in 2012. 

From his literary career, his most successful book was The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas, which was co-created with his bandmate Dougie Poynter.

It was the most popular debut children's novel of 2012 selling more than 72,000 copies and they have since penned 12 more in the series. 

Nick says: "The important thing about branding is that it's got to be very authentic and this all feels very natural because he is a father and family man." 

But Tom's most successful venture is just on the horizon according to Nick. He's writing Paddington: The Musical, which comes out next year and if all goes well could give him god-like celebrity status. 

"This is really exciting and could become a fantastic legacy for him and his family,” Nick says. “Paddington is a very successful film franchise and was a popular book series before. 

"It's very iconic in the UK and has become part of everyday life and growing up for kids across the country, so for Tom to have been chosen to take reigns over someone like Andrew Lloyd-Webber it's very exciting.

"If he gets it right, he could match Lloyd-Webber or even Elton John, who wrote the Billy Elliot and Lion King musicals and has just launched The Devil Wears Prada musical.

“Elton John was a popstar and went into musicals, so Tom could follow those footsteps and the show could become a global winner. If it does well it could go from The West End to Broadway."

Dougie Poynter – £2.4m

Danny's fellow King of the Jungle Dougie Poynter is worth the least of the McFly boys but his slightly more modest fortune still stems from clever business moves.

After winning the ITV reality series in 2011, he made a sizeable sum from The Dinosaur That Pooped book series but also branched out into fashion. 

He had three clothing companies – Zookie, which has since been sold, and Saint Kidd and Polonius, which are no longer running. 

Dougie also made his runway debut at London Collections Men and became a respected fashion writer and worked on a film for Vogue India.

This kudos earned him front-row seat invites for the major fashion weeks from top brands including Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Moschino and Saint Laurent Paris. 

Nick says he was the trailblazer of the group – first venturing into reality TV but appears now to be taking more of a backseat. 

He explains: "He obviously did really well branching out on one of the UK's biggest reality shows but now appears to have slowed down. 

"They don't all need to do as much as each other. They are coming back with the Busted vs McFly tour next year which will earn them lots from ticket sales, merchandise and touring.

"From a financial perspective, they will be really comfortable. Next year will be huge for the band, even more so with Danny winning I'm A Celebrity. They will be selling even more tickets.

"It will be a big winner for them and Busted. It's a very clever and astute business move having all of the Busted and McFly fans in the same place and is very clever marketing for all of their futures." 

Harry Judd – £3.4m

Before joining McFly, Harry Judd found fame by appearing in the music video for rival boyband Busted's hit Crashed The Wedding in 2003. 

The star, who's estimated to be worth £3.4million, skillfully juggled TV opportunities while rising through the charts with the group, which boosted his career.

He made a cameo in Doctor Who and starred on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Celebrity Juice, The Weakest Link and The Chase but his crowning small-screen moment was winning Strictly in 2011.

Alongside professional dancer Aliona Vilai, he stormed the competition, beating Waterloo Road's Chelsee Healey in the final. 

What's impressive is that all of the McFly members have managed to find their own niche and not in a way that seems contrived or fake

Nick Ede

Harry's popularity led him to be brought back for the Strictly Christmas special in 2015, where he wowed audiences with Joanne Clifton. 

Aside from his own earnings, he has a highly successful wife too – Izzy, who he wed in 2012, is a professional violinist supposedly worth more than £1million alone. 

More recently, Harry took over from Ronan Keating hosting Magic Radio's Breakfast slot alongside Harriet Scott, which Nick calls "a masterful move."

He says: "This is a really great move. He has a regular radio slot on a major channel, which is a really smart and allows him to show his personality. 

"A lot of it is filmed too, which could open doors for more TV opportunities. He's very handsome and has a rapport with listeners. 

"What's impressive is that all of the McFly members have managed to find their own niche and not in a way that seems contrived or fake.

"They are in a world that is very volatile yet they are this constant and what's great is that there are no controversies around them.

"They seem to be really decent people and appeal to any age group and any demographic, which is very unique and they are great safe pair of hands."