Micke Leijnegard’s salary during the Master of Masters

This is how much the presenter earns

Updated 19.10 | Published 14.21

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GIRONA. For a month, Micke Leijnegard is on the recording of “Master of Masters”.

He says that it is an “insane” amount of work – but that there will be no extra bang in the coffers for it.

– I am permanently employed and have a salary at a public service company, that says it all, so I don’t make any money, he says.

Micke Leijnegard59, has been the host of “the master of masters” since its inception in 2008.

When Aftonbladet is on site during the recording, he tells us that the most enjoyable thing about leading SVT’s long-distance runners is getting to visit other countries and getting to know the participants for real.

Have you started to take for granted being asked to host the master of masters?

– No, or… After the first season, which was an unexpected success, I asked one of the managers in the dining room at SVT: “You, next year then? Am I intended?”. But then I got the answer that it was too early. But after that there was never any talk.

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full screen Micke Leijnegard. Photo: Andreas Bardell

“Yo-yo” slimming before the recording

When the camera is rolling, there are very few times that Micke gets stuck on a word or says something wrong and it needs to be retaken. He himself says that the security in front of the camera comes from his background as a journalist and that he has written his own scripts since the beginning.

How much work will there be during the recording days?

– So it’s insane. How many hours are you awake in a day? You sleep seven, and those who are left you work when you are on “Master of Masters”. Sometimes you feel that you can’t take it and that you are getting old, but it works.

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full screen Micke Leijnegard. Photo: Andreas Bardell

During lunch, Micke tells us that he prepares for the recording by “yo-yo dieting”.

– You have to make sure you don’t look completely disgusting.

How do you do it then?

– When spring comes, I’m a bit “flabby”… But then we go to the cabin and I do some carpentry and then you’re in a bit better shape when you go back.

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full screen Micke Leijnegard. Photo: Andreas Bardell

Micke Leijnegard puts a plus on…

The economy

– Minus… No, no. I am permanently employed and have a salary at a public service company, that says it all, so I don’t make any money. I have so I manage, sometimes there is too much month left at the end of the money. It works, thank goodness I have Sanna who is economical and smart. Before I met her, it was a lot of minuses sometimes, thanks to her it’s a second.

How much do you earn from being on “Master of Masters”

– No, but “Master of Masters” does not affect anything. I earn somewhere around 70,000 a month. That’s great, but if you’re almost 60 and have worked as a journalist since you were 22 then… yes.

The health

– Five! Except that right now I feel the onset of a slight cold and I must not get sick. Otherwise, I’m rudely healthy.

What happens to the recording if you get sick?

– It’s not possible. It can’t happen, but the brain works that way, I don’t get sick when we don’t play “The Champions”. Then when we’re done, I can only rage, really weird.

The love life

– Sanna, my beloved wife, we have been together since 2005, 18 years. We are just a “match made in heaven” and our two children are wonderfully wonderful little cuckoos. Every day with them is a party, it sounded cliche but it’s great fun.

How did you and Sanna meet?

– We met at a seedy, slightly obscure rock club on Södermalm in Stockholm.. She was there reluctantly because her friend knew the guys who ran it, they’re from Skellefteå and I’m from Skellefteå, so I knew them too. She wasn’t really going to go there, damn lucky she did.

Was it love at first sight?

– Yes, that was it!

The career

– That I am where I am is so incredibly high above what I even dared to dream about in my wildest fantasy when I was young. I come from a very low-status family, non-academic and that I was able to make it this far is plus six.

Do you have any dreams or goals you want to achieve?

– I would like one of my upcoming novels to become a bestseller, that would be fun. I’ve written a novel, so that’s what I’m going to do when I retire. Or preferably before, but it’s not that far away.

The future plans

– They are difficult to put a plus on, because I don’t know how they go. But the plans are to write a bestseller, at least one. And then it’s done, then you can live the happy days of life.

Do you have any plans after “Master of Masters”?

– When I come back, I will take up my two wooden boats, build temporary houses for them and prepare them for the winter. It will take a week. Then I hope I can take it easy because the “Masters” is hard work.