Zoe Ball becomes BBC’s top earner after whopping £1 million pay rise

Zoe Ball has been named the BBC’s top earner after a whopping pay rise of £1 million.

Following backlash over the gender pay gap, the BBC Radio 2 and Strictly It Takes Two presenter has taken over former top earner Gary Lineker when it comes to the broadcaster’s staff pay packets.

Her pay rise comes just one month after reports that she’d lost a million listeners on her Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

She pulled in 8.2 million listeners every week in the final quarter of 2019, compared to the 9.1m Chris Evans brought in before he left in 2018.

But the BBC Annual Report has today revealed that the 49-year-old’s pay has soared from £370,000 last year to a minimum of £1.36m.

Her salary is now nine times that of the Prime Minister’s.

She will take over from Gary Lineker, who has taken a big pay cut.

Gary earned £1.75m in 2019/20, meaning a 23% reduction would take this figure to around £1.35m – just below the £1.36m that Zoe earned in 2019/20.

The BBC came under fire after reports showed that many of its female stars were paid less than their male counterparts.

It saw several threaten to quit.

While the top earners are still mostly male, four of the top 10 are now female, and they’ve all been given pay rises.

Fiona Bruce, in at number six, has gone up by £195,000 to be earning at least £450,000, while Vanessa Feltz has had a raise of £50,000, taking her to at least £405,000.

Lauren Laverne’s salary was bumped up by £90,000, taking her to at least £395,000.

However, some of the top earning men have seen their salaries go down like Gary’s has.

Alan Shearer has taken a £50,000 cut, making his salary at least £390,000, while Huw Edwards’ pay has gone down by £25,000, meaning he now earns at least £465,000.

This year’s top 10 BBC salaries

1. Zoe Ball – £1,360,000 – 1,364,999: Up by £990,000
2. Gary Lineker – Around £1,350,000: Down by 23%
3. Graham Norton – £725,000 – 729,999: Up by £115,000
4. Steve Wright – £475,000 – 479,000: Up by £10,000
5. Huw Edwards – £465,000 – 469,999: Down by £25,000
6. Fiona Bruce – £450,000 – 454,999: Up by £195,000
7. Vanessa Feltz – £405,000 – 409,999: Up by £50,000
8. Lauren Laverne – £395,000 – 399,999: Up by £90,000
9. Alan Shearer – £390,000 – 394,999: Down by £50,000
10. Stephen Nolan – £390,000 – 394,000: Up by £75,000

The BBC has revealed that 76 of its presenters earn more money than PM Boris Johnson, who is on £150,000.