Former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards, who resigned from the BBC on medical advice in April, saw his salary increase by £40,000 last year. In the last financial year, Edwards' salary was between £475,000 - £479,999, the BBC's latest annual report shows. He received between £435,000 and £439,999 in the year 2022/2023.
Edwards left the BBC after being named last year as the presenter at the centre of days of allegations and speculation. He had been off-air since July 2023. The Sun newspaper first reported that the presenter, who at that point was unnamed, was alleged to have paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Edwards's departure came nine months after his wife said he had been admitted to hospital with "serious mental health issues". Police did not take action against him, saying there was no evidence that a criminal offence had been committed. He was also the corporation's highest-paid newsreader last year.
The BBC confirmed when Edwards resigned that the presenter had not been paid off as part of his departure. Speaking on Tuesday, the BBC's director general Tim Davie said: "No-one wants to waste a pound but we need to act proportionately and fairly and I think that's what we did." Gary Lineker topped the list of the BBC's best-paid stars for a seventh year in a row, earning £1,350,000 - £1,354,999 in the last financial year.
BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball was the second-highest earner behind the Match of the Day presenter, with £950,000 to £954,999, down £30,000 on last year. Lineker's BBC work also includes coverage of the FA Cup final and Sports Personality of the Year. As usual, the BBC's annual report does not paint the full picture of what star presenters at the BBC earn.
A huge number are not listed because the corporation does not have to make public the salaries of stars who are paid through its commercial arm BBC Studios or via independent production companies. Edwards was third on the list, with BBC Radio 2 presenter Greg James in fourth, with a salary of between £415,000 and £419,999 (an increase of £20,000). Radio presenter Steven Nolan and Fiona Bruce, who presents BBC One's Question Time and fronts other BBC coverage, earned between £405,000 and £409,999.
Her work on Antiques Roadshow is not included. Desert Island Discs and 6 Music host Lauren Laverne is next (£395,000 - £399,999), with football presenter Alan Shearer just behind (£380,000 - £384,999). Shearer saw a salary drop of £65,000 on last year.
BBC Breakfast and 5 Live presenter Naga Munchetty and Today host and podcast presenter Nick Robinson both earned between £345,000 and £349,000. Robinson's salary increased by £70,000 on last year. Neither Munchetty or Robinson made the top 10 last year.
Sophie Raworth has dropped out of the top 10 after a £40,000 decrease on 2022/23. The late Steve Wright, who died in February, earned £205,000 to £209,999 for his work on Radio 2's Sunday Love Songs, Pick of the Pops and other cover. The corporation said it was now "the only UK provider to appear in the top five most-used media bands for young people".
It added that 95% of UK adults use its services on average per month. Its annual report also noted that there have been 2,000 roles cut at the BBC in the last five years, a decrease of 10%. It said that 500 more roles will go by March 2026.
There was also a drop in the number of people paying the licence fee, a fall of 2%..
