Holly ‘no idea’ she was being paid less than co-star Phillip
Star blasts gender pay gap as ‘outrageous’
THIS Morning’s Holly Willoughby said she had “no idea” if co-host Phillip Schofield earned more than her – just weeks before the Mirror revealed he did.
In a magazine interview, ITV presenter Holly, 36, branded the gender gap “outrageous”. She said: “If you have two equally qualified people who have been doing something for the same time then there is absolutely no excuse.”
Asked if she and Phillip, 54, were on the same wage, she continued: “You have to trust in your employer. You have to trust that they respect you in that way, and I would hope our employer would respect me.” The interview took place before the Mirror revealed Holly got a £200,000 pay rise to match the £600,000 Phillip is understood to take home. The pair will each take home £200,000 extra when they front Dancing On Ice later this year, taking their annual salaries to £800,000 – still far less than Chris Evans’s £2.2million for the BBC. Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid, 46, said the BBC’s pay gap is “shocking”, but “completely unsurprising”. She told Event magazine: “Many women know they aren’t paid equally to men doing the same job. Gender should not be a reason.” The mag notes Susanna “seems not to know” whether co-host Piers Morgan, 52, earns the same as her reported £500,000 pay.
The presenter said revealing wage packets could help. She added: “It is hard for women fighting an equality pay battle to find out what the person they might be sitting next to is paid. Public salaries might be a way forward.”
She said women on large salaries may be afraid of “putting their heads above the parapet”, making it more difficult to fight for equal pay at the top.