Zoe Ball's eye-watering BBC salary sparks fury as fans say 'she's never there'

BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball was paid between £950,000 and £954,999 by the BBC last year, making her the corporation’s second-highest-paid employee behind Gary Lineker’s annual salary of at least £1.35m. From Zoe's salary, it works out that she earns around £4,000 per show.

Despite this being a £30,000 cut on her pay packet for the previous year, the 53-year-old's earnings have sparked backlash on social media, particularly as the Beeb has simultaneously revealed plans to cut 500 jobs.

Fuming on Twitter/X, one user said: “How much Zoe Ball gets a year is a disgrace.”

Another ranted: “It's funny in the statement the BBC say they take spending licence fee payers money very seriously and try to give value for money .... yet they're paying Lineker £1.3 million and Zoe Ball the best part of £1 million! Taking the p**s as usual.”

A third wrote: “BBC are blasting the license money by paying the likes of Gary Lineker, Claudia Winkleman and Zoe Ball massive salaries, saying that they’re rare stars. You only have to look at @TalkTV and @GBNEWS to see how many ‘stars’ are out there who could do those jobs very well.”

A fourth commented: “The license fee is fantastic value in comparison to the various streaming options available - most of which I try periodically and find poor value. Having said that - the top salaries are insane, especially for Zoe Ball.”

And a fifth wrote: “Zoe Ball is never there.”

At the same time, some defended the radio host, surmising that her salary would not be scrutinised if she were a man.

A user said: “If Zoe Ball were a man, we wouldn’t wonder if she deserved her BBC salary.”

Another agreed: “So, Zoe Ball who presents a show every weekday on the UK’s biggest radio station gets paid half a million less than Gary Lineker who only works for football matches and presents a programme no one watches because of him. It’s the football people watch MOTD for.”

And a third argued: “At least I get a bit of entertainment value from Zoe Ball.”

Disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards was the BBC’s third highest earner last year, despite being off air since July 2023 and officially resigning in April 2024 following allegations he paid a young person for explicit pictures.

On top of this, his salary rose by £40,000 from the previous year, meaning he earned at least £475,000.

The BBC’s director general Tim Davie defended Huw’s pay rise, saying: “We are always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no one wants to waste a pound.

"But what you're trying to do, and from the onset of that affair, was trying to act proportionally, fairly and navigate this appropriately. I think that's what we did and it ended up in the conclusion, we all know, but I think we wouldn't have wasted money if we weren't doing the right thing...

"You know, people do get, as you'll have seen, overall, our pay progress is pretty good ... but people on the list would be getting pay rises for extended responsibility, and actually, if they're doing more ... so that is fairly normal business, and that's what would result in the change."

Following the publication of the annual salary list, the BBC confirmed it is to cut 500 jobs in a bid to save £200m for the "transformation" of the corporation.

Chief operating adviser Leigh Tavaziva said: "To further build our digital capabilities, whilst targeting efficiencies, over the next two years we will continue to close and transfer roles in some areas and create new roles in growth areas.

"This will result in a forecast net reduction of 500 roles in the public service by March 26, with further growth in targeted areas planned in our commercial group.

"To support these changes we will today be launching a new voluntary redundancy scheme for staff. Our priority remains to protect and champion the BBC's fighting role as the UK's public service broadcaster, for all our audiences both local and global.”