Graham Norton has insisted his TV rivals are paid much more than him.
The chat show host was revealed in this year’s BBC pay figures to have received £610,000 from the broadcaster for his work hosting ‘The Graham Norton Show’, but has insisted that despite the hefty wage, his rivals over on ITV – including ‘This Morning’ host Philip Schofield – are on much higher salaries.
He said: "That’s what’s odd about this situation, for the top 20 of us at the BBC. For some reason MPs want to know what famous people at the BBC earn.
"If they could get ITV to tell them what Phillip Schofield gets, they’d love to know. Also, I have to say, what would really shock the public is to discover the disparity between ITV and BBC. People would go, ‘Wow!’ "
BBC’s pay figures were released to show the licence fee-funded broadcaster’s top 20 best paid stars’ salaries, and including Graham, as well as ‘Match of the Day’ host Gary Lineker, who topped the list as he earns a whopping £1.75 million.
Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball is the highest ranked female on £370,000.
But Graham, 56, has slammed the idea of releasing the salaries, because he says there are people at the BBC who are paid much more than the three of them.
Speaking to the Radio Times, he added: "You may hate me or Gary Lineker or Zoe Ball but that’s not just what the licence fee is paying for.
"It’s paying for this overall thing. And it’s not like I want to dob people in it, but you read that list and go, really?
"Me and Gary Lineker are top of the tree? No.
"We all know there are people who earn a lot more than me and Gary."
Graham Norton: My TV rivals are paid much more than me
