BBC's top 10 highest earners revealed. See the full list
FORMER Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker has topped the list of the BBC 's highest-earning on-air talent for the eighth consecutive year and the final time.
Radio presenter Zoe Ball was the second highest-paid, earning between £515,000 and £519,999, for her work on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, which she left on December 20 last year.
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Ball has since returned to a new Saturday afternoon show on the station, which she began hosting in May 2025.
Match Of The Day pundit Alan Shearer was the third-highest earner with a salary of between £440,000 and £444,999.
Shearer will continue to analyse football on the BBC in the new season with Match Of The Day's incoming presenters Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman, and Gabby Logan.
His pay also covered work on the BBC's coverage of European football competitions, such as the Uefa Champions League.
The 10 ten BBC highest earners
Gary Lineker: Between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 Zoe Ball: Between £515,000 and £519,999 Alan Shearer: Between £440,000 and £444,999 Greg James: Between £425,000 and £429,999 Fiona Bruce: Between £410,000 and £414,999 Nick Robinson: Between £410,000 and £414,999 Stephen Nolan: Between £405,000 and £409,999 Laura Kuenssberg: Between £395,000 and £399,999 Vernon Kay: Between £390,000 and £394,999 Justin Webb: Between £365,000 and £369,999.
BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Greg James came fourth on the list for work which also included his Radio 4 show Rewinder, while Fiona Bruce and Nick Robinson were the joint fifth-highest earners.
Bruce's pay covered her work on Question Time and other presenting work on BBC One and coverage of the UK General Election, while Robinson's included his presenting work, Political Thinking and Today podcasts, and his work covering the UK General Election.
The publication of salaries comes after former England striker Lineker left his presenting role earlier than planned following a social media row after he shared a post about Zionism which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult.
Lineker issued an unreserved apology for the incident, and will no longer front the BBC's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or the FA Cup next season.
The rest of the top 10 was made up of BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan, who earned between £405,000 and £409,999, TV presenter Laura Kuenssberg, who earned between £395,000 and £399,999, BBC Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay, who earned between £390,000 and £394,999, and journalist Justin Webb, who earned between £365,000 and £369,999.
The annual report and salary reveal comes as the BBC has made headlines over its coverage of the Glastonbury Festival, the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, and a report into Gregg Wallace's behaviour on MasterChef.
On Monday, Wallace's MasterChef co-host John Torode confirmed he had a standalone allegation of racist language upheld in the same report.
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