BBC’s gender pay gap revealed with just TWO women in the top 14 earners

THE BBC’s embarrassing gender pay gap was revealed today — with just TWO women in the corporation’s top 14 earners.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman, 45, and the One Show’s Alex Jones, 43, were the best-paid females in the BBC’s Annual Report that exposed a huge disparity in wages.

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And there were also high-profile absences from the report, which has to reveal any on-air talent earning over £150,000, including Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis, 46, and BBC Breakfast’s Louise Minchin, 48, and Hazel Irvine, 51, who did not earn above the threshold unlike their male counterparts.

Chris Evans, 51, was shown to be the highest-paid star, raking in up to £2,249,000 last year for his Radio 2 show and Top Gear job.

And Gary Lineker, 56, earned up to £1,799,999 for hosting Match of the Day and the channel’s Euro 2016 football coverage.

Graham Norton was the third best-paid star being paid £899,000 for his hosting and radio work— but that figure does not include his wages for his Friday night chat show.

The Beeb were forced to reveal the information by the government under the terms of its new 11-year royal charter negotiated with David Cameron’s Conservative government.

But it showed that just a third of on-air talent being paid more than that were women.

And fears that male staff at the corporation were being paid more than female counterparts working in similar roles were confirmed.

Former England striker Lineker earned more than the likes of Sue Barker, 61, Gabby Logan, 44, and Clare Balding, 46, put together.

Scottish host Hazel Irvine was a notable absentee from the report, which means she earns less than the £150,000 cut-off despite fronting the channel’s golf, athletics and snooker coverage.

BBC Breakfast co-host Dan Walker, 40, earned up to £249,999 last year — while his co-host Louise Minchin, did not break the £150,000 mark and was also not included.

And BBC news men once again dwarfed the pay packets of female presenters.

Huw Edwards, 55, was paid up to a cool £599,000 for his work, while Fiona Bruce — who also presents Antiques Roadshow — earned up to £200,000 less.

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John Humphrys was paid up to £649,000 and Radio 4’s Eddie Mair received £349,999.

And Newsnight host Emily Maitlis was not in the report, but her male counterpart Evan Davis, who also fronts Dragons’ Den on BBC2, was shown to have been paid up to £299,999.

And the report will also cause tension on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, after it was revealed that the show’s judges were not paid the same.

Former Head Judge Len Goodman, 73, and Bruno Tonioli, 61 were paid up to £249,999 — while Craig Revel Horwood, 52, and Darcey Bussell, 48, got just £199,999.

Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly was paid between £350,000 and £399,999.

Surprisingly, the Beeb's top earning actor is from Casualty, not flagship soap EastEnders.

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Derek Thompson, who plays long-serving Charlie Fairhead, from the medical drama was paid up to £399,999 for his services.

And the best paid actress was his co-star Amanda Mealing, who was paid up to £299,999.

The likes of Walford's Danny Dyer and Adam Woodyatt and departing Doctor Who Peter Capaldi all earned between £200,000 and £249,999.

Yesterday The Sun told how Director General Tony Hall was forced to admit that there was a clear imbalance between the genders at the corporation as he admitted the BBC was only revealing the information because they had been forced to — moaning that the government had “insisted”.

Talking about the imbalance between men and women he said: “At the moment, of the talent earning over £150,000 – two thirds are men and one third are women. Is that where we want to be? No.”

Paula Chan, an employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: “These figures expose what appears to be a deeply troubling disparity in pay between men and women at one of the UK’s most prominent publicly funded institutions, suggesting the pay gap within the BBC may be more significant than feared.

“We anticipate a number of high profile female employees will now be examining the figures and demanding an explanation as to why they are being paid less than their male colleagues.

"If the justification isn’t satisfactory, equal pay claims may be taken which would not only be costly but incredibly damaging to the standing and reputation of the BBC.”

Here is the full list, broken down by department and in £50,000 pay bands

TV non scripted (factual and entertainment)

• £150,000 – £199,999 Darcey Bussell – Contributor Mel Giedroyc – Presenter Craig Horwood – Contributor Paul Martin – Presenter Simon Schama – Presenter
• £200,000 – £249,999 Gary Barlow – Contributor Len Goodman – Contributor Danii Minogue – Contributor Bruno Tonioli – Contributor Alan Yentob – Presenter
• £300,000 – £349,999 Nick Knowles – Presenter
• £350,000 – £399,999 Tess Daly – Presenter
• £400,000 – £449,999 Alex Jones – Presenter

News and current affairs

• £150,000 – £199,999 Kamal Ahmed – Correspondent Jeremy Bowen – Correspondent Ben Brown – Presenter Mark Easton – Correspondent Gavin Esler – Presenter James Naughtie – Correspondent John Pienaar – Correspondent Sophie Raworth – Presenter John Simpson – Correspondent Kirsty Wark – Presenter Justin Webb – Presenter
• £200,000 – £249,999 Victoria Derbyshire – Presenter Mishal Husain – Presenter Martha Kearney – Presenter Laura Kuenssberg – Correspondent Andrew Neil – Presenter Jonathan Sopel – Correspondent
• £250,000 – £299,999 George Alagiah – Presenter Nicholas Robinson – Presenter
• £300,000 – £349,999 Eddie Mair – Presenter

TV scripted (drama and comedy)

• £150,000 – £199,999 Laurie Brett – Actor Letitia Dean – Actor Tameka Empson – Actor Guy Henry – Actor Linda Henry – Actor Scott Maslen – Actor Diane Parish – Actor Hugh Quarshie – Actor Jemma Redgrave – Actor Tim Roth – Actor Catherine Shipton – Actor Gillian Taylforth – Actor Lacey Turner – Actor
• £200,000 – £249,999 Peter Capaldi – Actor Danny Dyer – Actor Emilia Fox – Actor David Jason – Actor Rosie Marcel – Actor Adam Woodyatt – Actor
• £250,000 – £299,999 Amanda Mealing – Actor
• £350,000 – £399,999 Derek Thompson – Actor

Sport

• £150,000 – £199,999 Jonathan Agnew – Presenter and commentator Clare Balding – Presenter Jonathan Davies – Presenter John McEnroe – Presenter and commentator
• £200,000 – £249,999 John Inverdale – Presenter Gabby Logan – Presenter
• £250,000 -£299,999 Jason Mohammad – Presenter
• £300,000 – £349,999 Sue Barker – Presenter
• £400,000 – £449,999 Alan Shearer – Presenter
• £1,750,000 – £1,799,999 Gary Lineker – Presenter

Multi genre

• £150,000 – £199,999 Naga Munchetty – Presenter and Contributor
• £200,000 – £249,999 Mark Chapman – Presenter Jools Holland – Presenter Dan Walker – Presenter
• £250,000 – £299,999 Zoe Ball – Presenter Brian Cox – Presenter Evan Davis – Presenter
• £350,000 – £399,999 Fiona Bruce – Presenter
• £400,000 – £449,000 Andrew Marr – Presenter Stephen Nolan – Presenter
• £450,000 – £499,999 Matt Baker – Presenter Claudia Winkleman – Presenter
• £550,000 – £599,999 Huw Edwards
• £600,000 – £649,000 John Humphrys – Presenter
• £700,000 – £749,999 Jeremy Vine – Presenter
• £850,000 – £899,999 Graham Norton – Presenter
• £2,200,000 – £2,249,999 Chris Evans – Presenter

Radio

• £150,000 – £199,999 Adrian Chiles – Presenter Greg James – Presenter Shaun Keaveny – Presenter Moira Stuart – Presenter Jo Whiley – Presenter
• £200,000 – £249,999 Mark Radcliffe – Presenter
• £250,000 – £299,999 Ken Bruce – Presenter Scott Mills – Presenter Trevor Nelson – Presenter
• £300,000 – £349,999 Lauren Laverne – Presenter
• £350,000 – £399,999 Vanessa Feltz – Presenter Nicholas Grimshaw – Presenter Simon Mayo – Presenter
• £400,000 – £449,999 Nicky Campbell – Presenter
• £500,000 – £549,999 Steve Wright – Presenter

Specialist Contractors and Writers

• £150,000 – £199,999 Daryl Bramley – Programme Manager Colin Brown – Identity Architect Roy Clarke – Writer Patrick Foody – Analytics Architect Claire Hetherington – IT Programme Manager James Hewines – Technical Project Manager Daran Little – Writer Ruth Moreland – Project Manager Andy Pryor – Casting Manager Terence Reeves – Service Architect Noel Scotford – Programme Manager Richard Smith – Integration Lead