Showbiz pairing pay gaps uncovered – and how Holly Willoughby turned it around

The significant pay gap between men and women working in television first came to light when the BBC was forced to reveal its top earners in 2017.

As a publicly funded company, the organisation had to publish the wages of all employees earning more than £150,000 – and in the process revealed it was paying men nine per cent more on average.

While top-earning male Chris Evans was raking in approximately £2.2million, highest paid female Claudia Winkleman was making just £499,000.

As a result, numerous male stars pledged to take a pay cut, including Huw Edwards, John Humphrys, Nick Robinson, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell.

But it's not just between genders that you'll find a pay gap.

Many of TV's most popular duos aren't earning an equal amount, forcing the underpaid half to take a stand…

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield

Phil's former This Morning co-host Fern Britton reportedly quit after learning he was being paid £250,000 more than her each year.

And when Holly Willoughby took over, it later emerged that she too was earning £200,000 less than him.

That was reportedly corrected in 2017 when her salary was brought in line with Phil's £600,000.

Over the last 12 months, Phil increased his overall salary by £1million thanks to his Dancing On Ice return, 5 Gold Rings gig and Waitrose advertising campaign.

But Holly – who also presents Dancing On Ice – is expected to overtake his £1.73million earnings when her own are revealed in November.

Her stint on I'm A Celebrity to cover for Ant is said to have earned her £2.5million alone.

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford

The husband-and-wife duo stand in for Holly and Phil on This Morning on Fridays – but Ruth would refuse to do it if she wasn't paid the same as Eamonn.

"I insist now on being paid the same. I insist now that I do," she told The Sun.

"But as we all know, in the past I've worked not just with Eamonn. The thing is you don't normally discuss your pay when you're a co-presenter, but obviously I do with my husband because he's my husband.

"I basically wouldn't work for them if they weren't paying me the same if I'm doing the same job, whether I'm with my husband or any other male co-presenter."

Both are thought to be worth around £3million each.

Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan

Susanna jumped ship from the BBC in 2014 after being offered a reported £1million to front ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Her co-host Piers recently made an on-air jibe about her salary, sniping, "You women moan as well. Women have it so hard don't they? They have it so hard.

"But you and your massive salary, working four days a week. Come on."

But he's got no grounds for complaint given his salary was apparently doubled to £1.1millon in 2017 after he threatened to quit over the 3.45am starts.

In July he boasted that he's got £10million in the bank, and once bragged on Twitter that he's got a salary of £22million.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly

Ant might have spent a large chunk of 2018 away from the camera after seeking treatment for alcohol and prescription drug abuse, but it doesn't seem to have impacted his earnings too much.

Both he and Dec have a golden handcuffs deal with ITV thought to be worth £30million for three years, – or £5million each a year – for shows including Saturday Night Takeaway, I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here and Britain's Got Talent.

Last year alone their joint production company, Hurley, raked in £85,000 a week and annual profit of £4.4 million, which works out at about £12,175 a day.

Needless to say, unlike other presenting duos who take on solo work, Ant and Dec come as a package and are reportedly always paid as such.

Claudia Winklemand and Tess Daly

Tess has been presenting Strictly Come Dancing since its launch in 2004, while Claudia hosted sister show, It Takes Two before being promoted to the main show in 2014.

But although Tess has been on the scene for longer, it's Claudia who earns the big bucks.

In 2017 Tess featured on the BBC's high earners list with a salary of between £350,000 and £399,999 a year for her work on Strictly and Children in Need amongst other projects.

Claudia, meanwhile, earns up to £499,999 a year and is the highest paid female on the Beeb.

Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith

Paul's believed to have earned just £100,000 a series back when The Great British Bake Off was on the BBC.

But he followed the show to Channel 4 in 2016, signing a three-year deal worth a reported £1.2million.

That means Paul's now earning an estimated £400,000 a series while his co-judge Prue Leith is though to be on just half that at £200,000.

Matt Baker and Alex Jones

A pay discrepancy between the BBC's One Show hosts was revealed in 2017 when it emerged Matt was being paid £50,000 more than Alex.

However, she insists that the corporation has since fixed the matter, with both their salaries now believed to be around the £499,000 mark.

"We've never discussed our pay because we're quite British like that. Even my mum doesn't know how much I earn," she told Hello magazine.

"But the BBC seem to be doing what they can and I know that with Matt and I our editor put that right; it's been addressed with us."

As well as hosting The One Show, Matt also works on Countryfile and covered the Olympics.

John Torode and Gregg Wallace

It might be on the BBC, but because MasterChef is made by an external company, the Beeb doesn't have to reveal the judging duo's wages.

However, it doesn't sound like they're on a heft wedge, with Gregg admitting they'd jump ship if another channel offered them more.

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