£700k Vine ‘appalled’ by BBC pay list
Mirror contest winners recall thrills of seeing Apollo launch
BIG EARNER Jeremy Vine JEREMY Vine says he was “appalled” to see how much more he received than Emily Maitlis when the BBC pay list came out.
The corporation was made to reveal its biggest stars’ salaries in 2017.
Vine, 54, was shown to be on £700,000-£749,999 while Newsnight host Maitlis was not on the list.
He said around that time he was doing five jobs: Points Of View, Panorama, Eggheads, election graphics and Radio 2.
And on Maitlis earning less than £150,000 despite them working on election coverage together, he said: “I really was appalled at the disparity with my female colleagues because I didn’t know anything about that.”
Vine’s current BBC salary is £290,000-294,999. Larry Sidorczuk with trip souvenir MEET the Mirror’s Moon Kids – 50 years after they flew to Florida for an Apollo lunar launch.
In 1969 the world was gripped by space fever and Helen Jones and Larry Sidorczuk, both 13, had caught the bug.
They were glued to their televisions as Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon.
When the Mirror ran a competition offering ringside seats for the next Apollo mission, they entered.
Weeks later they were two of eight youngsters flying across the Atlantic to NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre.
The group were known as the Mirror’s Moon Kids and their trip of a lifetime was reported every day in the paper.
Hundreds of youngsters, aged 11 to 15, entered our quiz, answering 10 questions about the Apollo 11 mission.
Helen, 62, said: “I’d saved cuttings from the first moon landings and that probably helped. I put a lot of effort into it. I went to the library to do research.”
A tie-breaker asked what the children would leave on the moon as a souvenir.
Larry chose the four elements of our home planet – earth, water, air and fire Standing beside Apollo capsule at NASA, Florida – which clearly impressed the judges. He said: “I had a visit from a journalist from the Mirror who said, ‘Congratulations, you have won’. I was ecstatically happy. I remember it so clearly, 50 years later.”
Helen said: “I was stunned. It was unbelievable. For a girl who’d never been abroad before, just to fly was incredible.”
In Florida they were given a tour of the Space Centre. Standing on the launch ADVENTURE They set off from Heathrow Helen Jones now and at the age of 13 pad was the 365ft tall Saturn V, which fired Charles Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon out of the earth’s orbit.
Helen said: “The most special moment was when we had our photograph taken in front of Apollo 12. I could not believe I was within touching distance.”
The next day, November 14, 1969, they watched it soar. Helen said: “The rumble, the noise, you could see the red flames, MEMORY Gift albums documented mission it was the most wonderful experience. It changed my life, opening my mind and making me want to travel.”
Five days later Apollo 12 was the second manned mission to land on the moon. Our youngsters visited Washington and New York before being presented with an album of memories.
Retired office manager Helen, of Sheffield, South Yorks, added: “We felt like princes and princesses.”
Creative artist Larry, 63, of Liverpool, said: “Something so significant was happening, we were there to witness it.”
The other kids were Harvey Frankle, 13, of Ilford, Essex; Tony Freeman, 15, of Thornhill, Southampton; Richard Gadd, 14, of Hitchin, Herts; Anita Harris, 11, of Iver, Bucks; Stewart Kemp, 11, of Long Preston, North Yorks; and Rosemarie Kennelly, 14, of Hay Mills, Birmingham. ■ Were you a Moon Kid? Contact us at mirrornews@mirror.co.uk or 0800282591.
The most special moment was a photo in front of Apollo 12
HELEN JONES ON HER HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP