Winkleman quicksteps up BBC pay list to fill Norton’s shoes

CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN is to rise up the BBC rich list with an expected salary of £500,000 after being chosen to replace Graham Norton on Radio 2.

Her £370,000 salary is to increase by at least £100,000 as she takes over the Saturday morning slot.

She previously hosted a two-hour Sunday night show, but the move to a three-hour, higher-profile programme will come with an increase in pay.

A salary approaching £500,000 would make her the third highest paid presenter on the BBC rich list, after Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball, up from her current 13th place.

Winkleman’s true salary is far higher as her earnings from Strictly Come Dancing are paid via the BBC’S commercial arm and hidden from public view.

Norton was paid an estimated £400,000-500,000 for his Radio 2 show and the BBC has been under pressure to pay women and men equally.

However, industry insiders said Norton’s deal was struck four years ago when presenters’ negotiating power was higher, as it was before the first BBC pay disclosures threw an uncomfortable spotlight on its spending.

Norton created a vacancy last week when he announced he was defecting to Virgin Radio after a decade at Radio 2.

Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “As Claudia is one of the UK’S best-loved entertainers and a firm favourite with our listeners, I’m over the moon that she’ll be bringing her enormous warmth and wit to Saturday mornings.”

Winkleman called Norton “an impossible act to follow”, saying: “I’m not often speechless but the chance to be with the wonderful Radio 2 listeners every Saturday has l eft me, quite frankly, gobsmacked.

“I hope my voice comes back in time for the first show as I can no longer simply rely on a fake tan and a fringe. There’s nobody I’d rather be with at the weekend, it’s a privilege and an honour.”

When the first BBC rich list was published in 2017, Winkleman was the highest-paid woman at the corporation with a salary of £450,000-500,000 including her Strictly fee (the rules were changed the following year to exclude pay for programmes made by BBC Studios).

The list prompted an outcry because it revealed that two thirds of the toppaid stars, and all but one of the top 10, were men. It prompted women across the corporation to demand pay parity.

But public fury at the size of star salaries has prompted some of the highestpaid to accept pay cuts.

In a recent interview, Winkleman said: “It was really good that everyone’s salaries were published because I think it altered things. That’s good and it’s a public-owned company and people should know where their money is spent.”

Asked if the BBC had made enough progress on closing the gender pay gap, she replied: “Not yet. Getting there. You have to start the conversation.”

In a separate interview, the presenter claimed to suffer from impostor syndrome. “I’m just waiting for somebody to tap me on the shoulder and go, ‘ Oh, sorry, we’ve got this all wrong, you’re not allowed to go in again, we’ve got Rylan instead.”

Norton will host his final show in December and Winkleman will start in February.