Gary Lineker tops BBC best-paid list with Naga Munchetty among biggest earners amid ‘bullying' row as salaries revealed

The Sun

15-07-2025

GARY Lineker ended his time with the BBC by topping the Corporation's pay league for the eighth consecutive year.
Its annual salary report shows the ex-Match of the Day host, 64, remained in the £1,350,000 to £1,354,999 bracket before he quit in May following a social media row over a pro-Palestinian video.
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Radio 2 host Zoe Ball, 53, remained the Beeb's second-highest earner despite a significant pay cut when she left the breakfast show,.
She is now in the £515,000 - £519,999 grade, dropping from £950,000 to £954,999.
Key points in the BBC Annual Report
Gary Lineker has topped the list of highest earners for another year
He was followed by Zoe Ball, who remains second best-paid at the Beeb despite her dramatic pay cut
More than two thirds of the broadcaster's top 20 earners received pay rises
BBC Breakfast star Naga Munchetty received a boost to her pay, but co-host Charlie Stayt's salary stayed the same
Disgraced presenter Huw Edwards did not feature on the list after his exit from the broadcaster
Meanwhile the number of people paying for a TV licence fell by around 300,000 last year - almost two per cent in all
Other top earners include Alan Shearer on £440k, Greg James on £425k and Fiona Bruce on £410k - all three receiving pay rises.
But a pay row could brew on scandal-hit BBC Breakfast as under-fire host Naga Munchetty received a £10k boost to £355k whilst co-host Charlie Stayt remained stuck in the £190k bracket.
It comes amid a bullying row on the flagship news programme, with director Richard Frediani under investigation.
Nearly 70 per cent of the BBC's top 20 earners received pay rises.
Some 56 per cent of the rich list are from the Corporation's news teams.
Elsewhere, other big names include Radio 2's Vernon Kay on £390k and Scott Mills on £355k.
Dominating the newsroom are Radio 4's Nick Robinson on £410k, Laura Kuessenberg on £395k and Clive Nyrie's £335k.
In sport, Mark Chapman has seen a £65k increase to £325k after taking on more duties after Gary's departure.
One of the Beeb's former highest-earners, Huw Edwards, does not feature in 24/25's pay disclose list after he left in April 2024 amid an explicit image scandal.
The BBC has not escaped scandal this year, though.
MasterChef's Gregg Wallace, was fired this week for inappropriate conduct.
Wynne Evans was also sacked by BBC Radio Wales after a row on Strictly Come Dancing.
However neither would feature in the publicly-funded BBC's salary dossier, which discloses salaries above £178,000, because they are paid by external production firms or BBC Studios, the corporation's commercial arm.
Many big names, including Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly, Graham Norton and Bradley Walsh do not feature for the same reason.
It comes as under-fire Director General Tim Davie received a £15k pay hike despite systemic failure. He took home £540k.
Meanwhile the number of people paying for a TV licence fell by around 300,000 last year - almost two per cent in all.
Some 23.8m licences are in force, down from 24.1m in 2023/2024.
But because of a hike in cost to £169.50, the BBC says it gathered some £183m more from the fees.
Despite the drop, it said the "vast majority of our audiences remained committed to paying the licence fee".
The broadcaster's Annual Report has been released today, but it comes as The Sun revealed the Beeb asked John Torode to resign from Masterchef after he was accused of racism.
A report upheld 45 of 83 allegations of bad behaviour against his co-host Gregg Wallace, who was axed last week.
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The dossier also upheld a complaint that an unnamed person used a racial phrase once several years ago.
Torode confirmed to The Sun it referred to him, but said: 'I have absolutely no recollection of this, and I do not believe that it happened.'
The BBC also told the MasterChef presenter to pretend he had mental health issues after accusing him of racism, it was claimed.
The stunned Aussie, 59, was asked to resign over the weekend after being dragged into the Gregg Wallace scandal.
Shockingly, sources said the BBC and production company Banijay asked John to resign from the beleaguered show last week and claim he had mental health problems — to which he refused.
Torode, who has hosted the BBC1 cooking show with Wallace since 2005, was shocked to be told of the allegation — which did not receive a complaint at the time but had been raised with investigators.
In a farcical turn of events, the BBC was unable to specify the time or date of the allegation, narrowing it down to '2018 or 2019'.
The Beeb admitted the future of Masterchef was hanging in the balance after the shocking revelations and probes into both hosts.
A total of 45 out of the 83 allegations made against Gregg during his time on the show were substantiated, including one allegation of "unwelcome physical contact".
The corporation said the possibility of Gregg returning to MasterChef was "untenable".
And they also issued a statement on the future of the new series of MasterChef, saying that, at this time, 'we are not going to make a final decision on the broadcast of the series that was filmed last year.'
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