Something for the weekend: Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was the BBC’s highest-paid star, according to its annual report on salaries.
Lineker, who also presents the Premier League, FA Cup and Sports Personality of the Year, was once again the corporation’s top earner, with a salary in the region of £1,350,000-£1,354,99, unchanged from the previous year. He departed the BBC in May due to an incident involving social media posts.
The organisation’s second highest earner was former Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball, who left the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show in December 2024 three-quarters of the way through the financial year and earned approximately £515,000-£519,999 for this period. She began hosting a Saturday show in May 2025. Ball ranked second due to her salary in 2023/2024, which was between £950,000-£954,999.
In third place was Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer, who earned £440,000-£444,999 compared to £380,000-£384,999 the previous year, while in fourth place was Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Greg James who received between £425,000-£429,999, an increase from £415,000-£419,999 previously.
Joint fifth were Question Time host Fiona Bruce and the Today programme presenter Nick Robinson, who both earned £410,000-£414,999. Bruce earned between £405,000-£409,000 and Robinson earned between £345,000-£349,000 the previous year.
Following was journalist and presenter Laura Kuenssberg, with her salary rising from between £325,000-£329,999 to £395,000-£399,999 this year, and Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay, whose salary rose from between £320,000-£324,999 to £390,000-£394,999.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Some famous BBC faces such as Rylan Clark, Claudia Winkleman, David Mitchell and Rob Brydon don’t make the list as the BBC does not have to disclose the salaries of stars who are paid through production companies like BBC Studios, which is classed as a commercial entity.”
Most of these presenters’ salaries have risen in the past year, which must help as the cost-of-living crisis continues…
