The BBC has released the impressive salaries for its top paid talent, with the top two stars both leaving the corporation in the past year and others receiving huge pay rises

The BBC has published the salaries of its highest-paid stars as part of its annual report – with some big changes amongst the top earners.

Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who recently left the corporation was once again the top earner with a take home salary of £1.35million, followed by former Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball with £515,000 despite being replaced on the Breakfast Show by Scott Mills.

Match of the Day Host Alan Shearer was the third highest paid BBC star of the year, increasing his salary from the year before after covering the Euros last year. The former Newcastle star boosted his salary to almost half a million pounds with his punditry at the tournament.

Radio host and political expert Nick Robinson also had a pay rise last year and Radio 2 host Vernon Kay joined the top 10 for the first time. Perhaps surprisingly BBC North America Editor Justin Webb also makes the top 10 with a salary of £365,000.

Vernon Kay has moved into the top 10

The BBC’s top earners:

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

Zoe Ball £515,000-£519,999 (down from £950,000-£954,999)

Alan Shearer £440,000-445,000 (up from £380,000-£384,999)

Greg James £425,000-£429,999 (up from £415,000-£419,999)

Fiona Bruce £410,000-£414,999 (up from £405,000-£409,999) and Nick Robinson £410,000-£414,999 (Up from £345,000 and £349,000)

Stephen Nolan £405,000-£409,999 (up from £400,000-£404,999)

Laura Kuenssberg £395,000-£399,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)

Vernon Kay £390,000 – £394,999 (joined Radio 2 in May 2023)

Justin Webb £365,000-£369,999 (up from £320,000-£324,999)

Naga Munchetty £355,000-£359,999 (up from £345,000-£349,999)

Scott Mills £355,000-£359,999 (up from £315,000 – £319,999)

Last year, Vernon Kay made the list for the first time after joining BBC Radio 2. He replaced Ken Bruce and took home a whopping £320,000 from the corporation in his first year.

Despite the impressive sum, his take-home pay was almost 20% less than what Ken earned in the previous year in the slot.

Disgraced BBC News host Huw Edwards also remained on the list last year, as he came in third place with a wage of £475,000-£479,999 (up from £435,000-£439,999). He left the BBC after being named as the presenter at the centre of days of allegations and speculation regarding his private life. Edwards had been off-air since July 2023.

Top boss Tim Davie grilled over controversies

Tim Davie responded to the MasterChef scandal ( 
Image:
PA)
During today’s review, BBC director general Tim Davie has said he and the corporation’s leadership team will not “tolerate behaviour that is not in line with our values” following the independent report into allegations of misconduct against MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.

Speaking about the independent report commissioned by MasterChef producer Banijay UK, Davie said: “From our side, it’s simple, we’re not going to tolerate behaviour that is not in line with our values.

“The industry needs to change, and we want to lead in the front, myself and the BBC leadership team will not tolerate people who are behaving inappropriately.

“There is no place in or on the BBC for those who are not prepared to live by our values, whoever they are. This is a time of transition for the industry, a reset, and the changes we are driving are overdue.”

During the release of the annual report, BBC chair Samir Shah revealed for the first time that several members of staff had been dismissed as a result of an independent review of workplace culture commissioned by the BBC.

He said: “This is the first time we’re going to say this publicly, several people have been dismissed as a result (of the review). But that, alongside the way the executive responded to the Banijay report into MasterChef yesterday, and I want audiences to feel confident that we are addressing these challenges.

“Finally, at the same time as acknowledging and dealing with the things they’ve gone wrong, the BBC has delivered an outstanding range of content to licence.”

Davie later turned his attention to the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, after a review found it had breached the corporation’s editorial guidelines on accuracy.

The programme was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Davie added: “There was a breach of our editorial guidelines, there was no breach on impartiality and no evidence of any outside interest impact on the programme.

“But there was a breach of accuracy, and that is not acceptable, so we are taking action to ensure proper accountability and we’re taking immediate steps to stop a failing like this being repeated.

“Despite this mistake, I do want to credit thousands of people across the BBC for delivering such brave impartial journalism despite immense challenges and very significant personal pressure.

“Personally, I remain utterly committed to delivering impartial coverage without fear or favour. It is needed now more than ever in this polarising world.”