Why Strictly stars’ pay won’t be revealed on the BBC salaries list

Strictly Come Dancing stars’ salaries have been missed out of the corporation’s annual report, which was revealed today.

Amid the ongoing turmoil facing the beloved BBC programme, the focus of the report will likely be on the storm of negative stories surrounding Strictly and the current internal investigation.

The report will also highlight the successes over the past year and disclose the pay of top BBC talent – but the likes of Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly and Strictly judges will not be included.

Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball are among the top earners, with the Match of the Day presenter becoming the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for the seventh consecutive year.

However, several huge BBC names including the Strictly judges, Michael McIntyre, Gladiators host Bradley Walsh – who was singled out as Britain’s richest television presenter last year -, Paddy McGuinness, and even Lord Alan Sugar won’t be listed in this year’s report.

Why won’t Strictly stars’ pay be revealed on the BBC salaries list?

The BBC discloses the salaries of talent and executives earning above the £178,000 threshold, and has done so since 2017.

However, stars that are paid via production companies are not published.

That includes those paid by BBC Studios, the corporation’s commercial company, which produces Doctor Who, Strictly and Happy Valley.

So the salaries of Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will not be disclosed today.

The BBC’s first annual report, published in 2017, contained pay information in bands that included some of the Strictly stars.

At the time, Winkleman was the highest paid-female celebrity, earning between £450,000 and £500,000 for various BBC work including Strictly, her Radio 2 programme and The Great British Sewing Bee, while her co-host Daly was paid between £350,000 and £400,000.

Head judge Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli were both paid in the £200,000 to £250,000 band, and Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell between £150,000 and £200,000.

While we know little about how much celebrities get paid on Strictly, it was previously reported that contestants each earn a , which is said to go up to $40,000 after the first few weeks in the competition.

The celebrities that make it all the way to the quarter-finals reportedly then see their earnings shoot up to £60,000, while finalists will get paid £75,000, and the winner gets a whopping £100,000, it’s been claimed.

Meanwhile, pro dancers are said to be earning a flat rate of £35,000 to £50,000 to appear on the programme.

According to BBC News, comedian McIntyre would be near the top of the salaries list if he were to be included as would The Chase star Walsh who presents Blankety Blank on the BBC, and Pointless stars Richard Osman and Alexander Armstrong.

Other big BBC names not included are Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Ross Kemp and Romesh Ranganathan, though his salary for his new Radio 2 weekend show may be made public next year.

Some presenters would be listed for some of their BBC work, such as Amol Rajan for his work as a news presenter and Radio 4’s Today programme, but not for University Challenge, and Evan Davis for his Radio 4 work but not Dragons’ Den.

The Dragons themselves, including Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden, would also not be included on the BBC salaries list.

Last year, pundit Lineker was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for work including Match Of The Day, coverage of the World Cup 2023, and Sports Personality Of The Year.

This year he’s seen no change, while Ball landed in second place, as the highest-paid woman, and earned between £950,000 to £954,999 in a slight decrease to her prior salary.

Meanwhile, Greg James, Fiona Bruce and Naga Munchetty, as well as Huw Edwards, was paid between £475,000 and £479,999 for 160 presenting days.