Top Gear host Chris Evans says 'pay us less' prior to BBC salaries being published
Radio 2 presenter and Top Gear host Chris Evans today (12 April) admitted that stars including himself get paid too much money and said the solution was to “pay us less”, in anticipation of his salary being public knowledge.
His comments come as the BBC’s white paper was revealed today which has called for the salaries of BBC stars earning more than £450,000 to be published, which culture secretary John Whittingdale deemed the public has “a right to know”.
It means the likes of Evans will be forced to reveal how much they earn. Evans is reportedly the BBC’s highest paid star, earning as much as £2m a year.
"People who do what I do for a living compared to people in the real world, get paid too much money," he told reporters outside Broadcasting House, the Metro reported.
"We’ve got jobs that people would pay to do – if they could afford it – and sometimes those things aren’t even available to buy" he said.
Evans added that "most of us work part-time anyway" and suggested that broadcasters should "pay us less".
"That’s what I would do, it’s not rocket science" he concluded.