Ex-Radio 4 Today host Sarah Montague receives £1m from BBC after equal pay investigation
FORMER Radio 4 Today host Sarah Montague has received £1million from the BBC following an internal probe over equal pay, we can reveal.
The corporation is bracing itself for a “monstrous” bill as other women line up to bring equal pay cases.
It comes after Newswatch host Samira Ahmed won a sex discrimination tribunal for back pay.
Sarah, 53, lodged her complaint after finding out long-time former co-host John Humphrys earned almost five times her salary.
BBC figures revealed that Humphrys, 76, who quit last year, earned between £600,000 and £649,000, and Sarah £133,000.
They co-hosted for 18 years.
A source said: “Sarah’s case had rumbled on for some time and, for her, it was never about the money. It was the principle of doing the same job as a man, and being paid, and treated, the same. Her payout has been the talk of the BBC, and has inspired other women.
“But as far as both she and the Beeb are concerned, the matter is done and dusted.”
Sarah quit Today in 2018.
She was “incandescent” at discovering she earned less than Humphrys.
Sarah, now at the helm of Radio 4’s World At One, said she “long suspected” it was the case but had “no idea of the scale”.
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The BBC admitted in 2017 only a third of its 96 top earners were women. The top seven were men.
A BBC spokesperson said: "While we don’t comment on individual cases, no one has received a payment of £1 million.”
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