Gary Lineker & Zoe Ball top BBC’s best-paid list – but scandal-hit Huw Edwards still in top 3 despite time OFF-AIR

GARY Lineker and Zoe Ball remain the BBC's highest-earning stars - with scandal-hit Huw Edwards making the top three despite his time off-air.

Match of the Day presenter Gary, 63, remains top of the list having stayed within the same bracket of £1,350,000 - £1,354,999.

He is followed by Radio 2 host Zoe, although she took a slight cut. Her salary now falls in the bracket £950,000 - £954,999, down from £980,000 - £984,999.

Edwards, who quit the BBC after 40 years in April, was listed as earning £475,000 - £479,999, a rise from the £435,000 - £439,999 bracket a year earlier.

This is despite the newsreader having been suspended on full pay over allegations he paid £35,000 to a young person who sent him explicit images.

The BBC's annual salary report covers the period from April 2023 to March 31, 2024.

This means Edwards received the salary despite being off-air from July 2023. He officially parted ways with the Beeb in April.

The BBC said Edwards had resigned on "medical advice" and confirmed he had not been paid off as part of his departure.

Radio 1 breakfast host Greg James is the fourth-highest earner with £415,000 - £419,999, up from £395,000 - £399,999.

Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce received a jump in pay to £405,000 - £409,999, up from £395,000 - £399,999.

Radio 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan is next on the list, earning between £405,000 - £409,999, a slight bump from the £400,000 - £404,999 he earned the previous year.

BBC 6 Music and Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne overtook Lineker's Match of the Day colleague Alan Shearer to become the fifth-highest paid star, earning £395,000 - £399,999.

Ex-footballer Shearer, meanwhile, was paid £380,000 - £384,999, a significant pay cut from the £445,000 - £449,999 he earned the previous year.

Four women make up the top 10, the same as last year, with Naga Munchetty replacing Sophie Raworth.

The report comes as BBC boss Tim Davie has apologised and issued a stern warning to Strictly stars amid the ongoing scandal.

Breaking his silence on alleged abusive behaviour on the show, the Director-General of the channel said: "The line should never be crossed".

Admitting he was "disappointed" by the complaints, he added: "I’m very sorry that anyone has had an experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive."

Some of the corporation's big-hitters do not feature on newly-released list.

This is because BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial arm, does not have to publish its own stars' salaries.

It means the sums taken by the likes of Graham Norton, Michael McIntyre and Bradley Walsh remain undisclosed.

Strictly presenters Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly - along with judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke - have also not been revealed.

Actors and other staff behind the corporation's most notable shows, such as Doctor Who and Eastenders, are also absent from the list.

Writing in the report, Mr Davie added: "This year was at times a difficult one for the BBC, and this Report highlights the challenges we have had to navigate – whether competitive, financial or in terms of the intense scrutiny we frequently face.

"But it also demonstrates that the BBC remains right at the heart of British national life, as it has been for over 100 years.

"Our focus remains firmly on building a BBC for the future that can deliver crucial benefits for the UK at a critical time – to help support
a healthy democracy, a thriving creative economy, and a strong society."