[bilky asko]

I imagine that if reports of paying £1.5M for Farage are correct then it's probably reduced the budget available to spend on other contestants.  Some won't have done it for lower-end fees, and I dare say a few may have declined if they knew (or thought) Farage was already booked.

By contrast Noel Edmunds fee was only £600K with a late arrival into camp. Though perhaps annoyingly for the producers he was the first out, due in part to a poorly planned vote that had a short voting window.  I'm sure though for Noel, entering on day 5 and leaving on day 13 it was a nice quick earner.

Isn't it well-known that the fees posited by the press are often a load of nonsense (and often put out by the celebrities themselves)?

Obviously different for Matt Hancock, who has to publish his amounts as an MP.