Gary Lineker is highest earning BBC star with £1.35million salary

Gary Lineker is highest earning BBC star for the sixth year in a row: Sports broadcaster was the only star to earn more than £1m last year after taking home 1.35m salary – with Zoe Ball remaining in second with annual wage of up to £985,000

• Lineker was taken off air in March after huge row over his controversial tweets
• Radio 2 star Radio 2’s Zoe Ball remains the BBC’s second highest paid star

Gary Lineker is the BBC’s highest paid on-air talent for the sixth consecutive year and the only star to earn more than £1 million in the year 2022/2023, according to the corporation’s annual report.

While there are four women in the top 10 list of highest earners, none of them has broken the £1 million threshold.

The salaries of the corporation’s top talent have been unveiled while the BBC is under pressure over allegations an unnamed presenter paid a teenager for explicit images.

The BBC has suspended a male member of staff after The Sun newspaper reported that he paid a young person around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.

Pundit Lineker was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for work including Match Of The Day, coverage of the World Cup 2023 and Sports Personality Of The Year.

Zoe Ball continues to be the broadcaster’s second highest paid talent, and the highest paid woman with a salary of £980,000 – £984,999 for her Radio 2 breakfast show and a Radio 2 tribute to Terry Wogan. 

Gary Lineker’s enormous salary was revealed today after a huge row earlier this year when he broke BBC impartiality rules by comparing the Government’s immigration policy to Nazi Germany on Twitter 

Lineker first topped the list for 2017/18 with a pay bracket of £1,750,000 to £1,759,999, and in 2020 it was announced he had taken a voluntary pay cut.

His earnings remain static despite his huge Twitter row earlier this year. 

He sparked uproar in March by comparing the Government’s language surrounding the migrant crisis to Nazi Germany on Twitter. 

The furore led to him being taken off air before Lineker struck a deal with the BBC that allowed him to continue airing his opinions about refugees and climate change. 

He is one of a number of BBC stars who have publicly denied they are the unnamed presenter at the centre of the current scandal.

Lineker’s Match Of The Day colleague Alan Shearer is in third place with a salary of £445,000 – £449,999, dropping from £450,000-£454,999 last year.

Huw Edwards is the corporation’s highest paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £435,000 – £439,999, up from £410,000 – £414,000 last year, putting him fourth on the list.

Radio 2’s Zoe Ball remains the BBC’s second highest paid star, with a salary of a salary of £980,000 to £984,999, the same figure as last year. Alan Shearer received a pay cut but remains the BBC’s third highest-earning star 

The other women on the list are Question Time’s Fiona Bruce, with a pay bracket of £395,000 – £399,000, down £15,000 from last year; Desert Island Discs presenter Lauren Laverne, with a bracket of £390,000 – £394,999, up £10,000, and Sophie Raworth with £365,000-£369,999, up £60,000.

Radio star Stephen Nolan is the fifth highest paid person on the list, earning £400,000 – £404,999.

Ken Bruce, who left the BBC earlier this year after 31 years at the helm of the Radio 2 mid-morning weekday slot, was up £5,000, to £390,000-£394,999.

Question Time’s Fiona Bruce has a pay bracket of £395,000 – £399,000, down £15,000 from last year

Bruce took a swipe at Radio 2 after his departure, revealing how bosses demanded he step down from his role 17 days early. 

He is new to the top 10 this year along with Laverne and Raworth as Steve Wright, Vanessa Feltz and Scott Mills were pushed out of the list after leaving their respective BBC shows.

Wright is now just outside of the top 10, earning £360,000-£364,000, after stepping down from his daytime Radio 2 show last July as part of the station’s schedules shakeup.

Last year, Feltz was in the salary bracket of £400,000 – £404,999. She announced in July last year that she was leaving her shows on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio London.

Mills does not feature in the top 10 highest earners but is listed in the salary bracket of £300,000 to £304,999.

He left his BBC Radio 1 show after 24 years last August, but continues to present his afternoon slot on BBC Radio 2 which he began last November.

His salary bracket includes work on the Scott Mills And Chris Stark Show on BBC Radio 5 Live, and covering both Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the Radio 2 Jubilee Weekend.

Justin Webb, one of the main presenters on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, received a pay boost. He is now earning up to £284,999, a £25,000 increase on last year’s figure of up to £259,999 

The salaries of the top 10 highest on-air earners are notably lower on average than last year. While the majority of the high earners made more than £400,000 in 2021/22, this year a significant number earn less than £400,000.

Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, said: ‘I am proud of the content we have delivered – the very best of the BBC – from royal programming to wonderful sporting moments and coverage of the Ukraine war. We have seen this again recently, with Eurovision, the Coronation and Glastonbury.

‘It remains a period of change, financial pressures and great competition in the media market. Our task is not always easy and we have to make some difficult choices.

‘But these are challenges we must embrace as we know that the BBC is needed now more than ever, in an age of polarisation and increasing disinformation.’

Up, down and staying the same: Top BBC stars’ salaries 

1. Gary Lineker £1,350,000-£1,354,999 (no change)

2. Zoe Ball £980,000-£984,999 (no change)

3. Alan Shearer £445,000-£449,999 (down from £450,000-£454,999)

4. Huw Edwards £435,000-£439,999 (up from £410,000-£414,999)

5. Stephen Nolan £400,000-£404,999 (down from £415,000-£419,999)

6. Fiona Bruce £395,000-£399,999 (down from £410,000-£414,999)

= Greg James £395,000-£399,999 (up from £390,000-£394,999)

8. Ken Bruce £390,000-£394,999 (up from £385,000-£389,999)

= Lauren Laverne £390,000-£394,999 (up from £380,000-£384,999)

10. Sophie Raworth £365,000-£369,999 (up from £305,000-£309,999)

11. Steve Wright £360,000-£364,999 (down from £450,000-£454,999)

12. George Alagiah £335,000-£339,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)

= Naga Munchetty £335,000-£339,999 (down from £365,000-£369,999)

= Amol Rajan £335,000-£339,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)

15. Mark Chapman £325,000-£329,999 (up from £250,000-£254,999)

16. Mishal Husain £315,000-£319,999 (up from £275,000-£279,999)

17. Laura Kuenssberg £305,000-£309,999 (up from £260,000-£264,999)

18. Scott Mills £300,000-£304,999 (down from £400,000-£404,999)

19. Nicky Campbell £295,000-£299,999 (no change)

= Victoria Derbyshire £295,000-£299,999 (up from £240,000-£244,999)

21. Sara Cox £285,000-£289,999 (up from £275,000-£279,999)

= Clive Myrie £285,000-£289,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)

= Jeremy Vine £285,000-£289,999 (down from £290,000-£294,999)

24. Evan Davis £280,000-£284,999 (up from £270,000-£274,999)

= Kirsty Wark £280,000-£284,999 (up from £245,000-£249,999)

= Justin Webb £280,000-£284,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)

27. Nick Robinson £275,000-£279,999 (up from £270,000-£274,999)

28. Ros Atkins £260,000-£264,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Martha Kearney £260,000-£264,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)

30. Jason Mohammad £255,000-£259,999 (down from £285,000-£289,999)

31. Sarah Montague £245,000-£249,999 (no change)

32. Tina Daheley £240,000-£244,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Gabby Logan £240,000-£244,999 (up from £200,000-£204,999)

= Trevor Nelson £240,000-£244,999 (up from £210,000-£214,999)

35. Jeremy Bowen £230,000-£234,999 (no change)

= Faisal Islam £230,000-£234,999 (down from £240,000-£244,999)

= Jo Whiley £230,000-£234,999 (down from £265,000-£269,999)

38. Katya Adler £225,000-£229,999 (up from £215,000-£219,999)

= Chris Mason £225,000-£229,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

40. Sarah Smith £220,000-£224,999 (up from £190,000-£194,999)

41. Mary Berry £215,000-£219,999 (no change)

= Reeta Chakrabati £215,000-£219,999 (up from £200,000-£204,999)

= Fergal Keane £215,000-£219,999 (up from £210,000-£214,999)

44. Simon Jack £210,000-£214,999 (up from £205,000-£209,999)

45. Lyse Doucet £205,000-£209,999 (up from £150,000-£154,999)

= John McEnroe £205,000-£209,999 (up from £180,000-£184,999)

47. Louis Theroux £200,000-£204,999 (no change)

48. Rachel Burden £195,000-£199,999 (up from £180,000-£184,999)

= Jonny Dymond £195,000-£199,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Mark Easton £195,000-£199,999 (up from £190,000-£194,999)

= Stephen Sackur £190,000-£194,999 (up from £175,000-£179,999)

52. Charlie Stayt £190,000-£194,999 (no change)

= Jermaine Jenas £190,000-£194,999 (down from £220,000-£224,999)

54. Jonathan Agnew £185,000-£189,999 (up from £175,000-£179,999)

= Sue Barker £185,000-£189,999 (no change)

= Emma Barnett £185,000-£189,999 (down from £215,000-£219,999)

= Jon Kay £185,000-£189,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Colin Murray £185,000 -£189,999 (up from £160,000-£164,999)

= Alex Scott £185,000-£189,999 (down from £195,000-£199,999)

60. Matthew Amroliwala £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Clare Balding £178,000-£184,999 (down from £205,000-£209,999)

= Craig Charles £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Rick Edwards £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Orla Guerin £178,000-£184,999 (up from £160,000-£164,999)

= Yalda Hakim £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Sally Nugent £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= John Simpson £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)

= Michael Vaughan £178,000-£184,999 (down from £225,000-£229,999)

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