Top of the fops: Gay funny men in BBC’s top 10.
Graham Norton and Nick Grimshaw are the only two out gay male stars to make it onto the BBC’s latest list of top-10 earners this year.
TV and radio host Norton was the third highest paid celebrity overall, earning £850,000 – £899,999. Meanwhile, radio presenter Grimshaw came in at number nine on the list, earning £350,000 – £399,999.
Well smile then: Norton is 3rd highest earner at the Beeb | Photo: BBC/The Graham Norton Show
Grimshaw’s pay over the last year saw him move up the rankings, which the BBC published today.
Although Norton and Grimshaw were the only out gay presenters in the top ten, other gay BBC faces came in further down the list.
Newsnight presenter and Dragon’s Den host, Evan Davis, banked £300k in wages, while gay journalist and presenter, Eddie Mair, took home £400k.
Claire Balding top earning lesbian at the BBC
The only out female presenter on the list was popular sports commentator, Claire Balding, who came in way down the ranking, earning up to £190k last year.
Balding: Only out female presenter on BBC list.
Once again the list of top presenting talent was dominated by men, with Match of the Day presenter, Gary Lineker bagging a whopping £1.76 million. Radio host, Chris Evans, was the second top earner £1.67m.
BBC director general Tony Hall said the BBC was ‘making progress’ and that he wants a 50/50 split on the list as a whole.
However, he added that ‘these things take time’, the BBC itself reported. The taxpayer funded national network has pledged to close the salary gap by 2020.
A number of the top earners have seen their salaries cut and more women overall made it onto this year’s list. However, some complained that the BBC management wasn’t moving quickly enough.
Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey, who is one of the eight women to join the list, told Radio 4’s PM programme the pace of change was ‘absolutely glacial’.
‘There needs to be a proper conversation about why in 2018 we are still fighting the same old battle on equal pay and why the work of women just isn’t valued in the same way as the work of men.’
See also:
Graham Norton doesn’t use Grindr because he ‘works for the BBC’
