Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball takes whopping £380k pay cut as she ‘felt uncomfortable’ over salary

ZOE Ball took a pay cut of more than £380,000 as the BBC slashed its high-profile stars’ wages in a huge savings drive. 

As The Sun revealed last year, the Radio 2 presenter requested the 28 per cent reduction after feeling “uncomfortable” with her wage during a pandemic.

She still remains the Corporation’s highest paid female on her £980,000 salary - earning more than double her nearest counterpart Vanessa Feltz. 

But Zoe's paycut means a woman is still not top of the list despite a pledge from the BBC to balance gender pay.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker is the highest paid, earning more than £1.36million but he also took a pay cut of at least £390,000, as we revealed last September.

The duo’s whopping reductions were partly revealed as part of the BBC’s Annual Report - which lists the corporation’s on-screen talent earning more than £150,000 a year.

The 316-page document officially had Zoe’s pay as £1.1m, because her pay cut was taken mid-financial year. 

The radio presenter last year bagged £1million more a year as the BBC faced a gender pay gap backlash.

It came despite her losing a million listeners on her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show after taking over from Chris Evans.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "Zoe Ball is a world-class broadcaster hosting Radio 2's flagship show and her professionalism and commitment to the Breakfast Show is extraordinary.

"She's hugely talented and has made the show her own, with many millions of listeners tuning in each morning to the nation's most listened to Breakfast Show."