[Stockland Hillman]

I was watching ITV News at Ten, and they reported on this, and they said a statement which is not true, they called Gary Lineker the highest paid star at the BBC - that is wrong.

Graham Norton is the highest paid star at the BBC - Graham is never mentioned now in the BBC annual salary list, because his salary is not paid directly to him, but to his production company So Television. But it is still licence fee money being used to fund his salary.

From accounts filed to Companies House by his production company So Television, we see that Graham was paid £3.025 million by his company. That money came from the BBC so he is in effect the highest paid star at the BBC.

So Television is owned by ITV Studios, its not been his company since 2012ish; they make more things than The Graham Norton Show. The BBC pay them as an independent producer and buy certain rights in the same way they do any other independent commissions. SOTV will bear costs of production including all staffing.

Graham's renumeration will be for many things other than just as a presenter, so it's just not comparable to the Lineker situation, and entirely false to claim otherwise.