Simon Mayo claims publishing stars' salaries risks BBC's future... but Jo Whiley brands pay gap 'ludicrous'

BBC Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo has said he finds revealing stars' pay 'uncomfortable'
PA Archive/PA Images
Ella Wills8 May 2018

BBC Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo has said he finds the corporation's policy of publishing its presenters' pay "uncomfortable".

In an interview with the Radio Times, the star said he was concerned that by publishing its employees' salaries, prompted by heightened media scrutiny, the BBC could be endangering its future as a public broadcaster.

Mr Mayo said: "My worry is that it will become like a yearly turkey shoot and I think it's often used as a stick to hit the BBC with.

"The critics are saying, 'Look at this, this isn't right,' but actually their broader agenda is dismantling the BBC, so that's one of the reasons why it's so uncomfortable."

Jo Whiley disagreed with her new co-presenter in the Radio Times interview
Alex Lentati

The BBC revealed last July that Mr Mayo, 59, earned between £350,000 and £400,000.

The presenter's previous drive-time programme, which finished last week after first being broadcast in 2010, attracted around six million listeners.

He has now teamed up with Jo Whiley for a revamped drive-time programme between 5pm and 8pm. The station has already confirmed both presenters will be paid the same amount for the show.

Ms Whiley was listed as earning between £150,000 to £200,000 in the same set of figures about presenters' salaries. She had been presenting a weeknight show on BBC Radio 2 that specialised in new music.

In the Radio Times interview, she disagreed with her new co-star, saying: "It's ludicrous to think two people would be doing the same job and be paid different amounts of money because of their sex; that's just unfathomable.

"I don't like talking about money at the best of times, but if it's necessary to put things right, to correct the balance so that women are treated fairly and are paid fairly for the job that they are doing, then let's discuss it, bring it on."

The 52-year-old is the first female presenter on Radio 2's weekday daytime output since Debbie Blower's afternoon show finished in 1998.

The full version of the interview with Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley can be read in this week's edition of the Radio Times.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in