Bruno Tonioli has tripled his Strictly salary in mega-Britain’s Got Talent judging deal

BRUNO Tonioli tripled his old Strictly salary by landing an £850,000 deal to be a judge on this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

The Italian dancer and choreographer, 67, pipped comedian Alan Carr to the plum ITV prime-time job.

His bumper wage is more than three times that of Strictly Come Dancing panel Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel-Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke.

The BBC dance show’s four judges are believed to bag around £250,000 per series.

An insider told The Sun on Sunday: “Friends say Bruno is ecstatic to return to prime-time Saturday night TV in the UK.

“He’s managed to triple his UK Strictly salary and beat off strong competition from favourite-for-the-job Alan Carr, who is friends with a lot of the cast and crew.”

Bruno is set to make his first BGT appearance on Tuesday for filming at The London Palladium.

He will pocket the same as the other BGT panellists Amanda Holden, 51 and Alesha Dixon, 44.

Bruno was show supremo Simon Cowell’s choice to replace former judge David Walliams, 51, who left last year.

Amanda, wed to record producer Chris Hughes, is also celebrating after extending her deal for Heart FM’s breakfast show until 2024.

A source said: “Bosses are thrilled she’s staying.”

She was among those pushing for Carr — her close pal and co-star on BBC1 property show The Italian Job — to be recruited as a BGT judge.

But our source added: “Simon has been Bruno’s biggest supporter  and thinks he has a special on-screen quality that can’t be replicated.”

Bruno left Strictly three years ago after being replaced by Anton, 56.

He had difficulty travelling from the US to the UK during the Covid pandemic.

Bruno is also a judge on American show Dancing With The Stars, where he pockets around £1million per series.

A spokesman for Britain’s Got Talent declined to comment.