Many avid television-watchers feel they know almost everything about their favourite stars: their sense of humour, their love lives – and even their favourite clothing brands.
But there’s one thing that our celebrities tend to keep firmly to themselves: how much they earn.
But today, a Daily Mail investigation can shed some light on the matter. For we have learned the salaries of some of TV’s biggest names, and the figures are not only likely to shock their fans, but perhaps their co-stars, who earn considerably less.
Take Wayne Rooney, for example. His role as a pundit on Match of the Day has transformed him from veteran footballer and failed manager to one of the small screen’s most compelling sports commentators.
And it’s certainly lucrative. We can reveal that Rooney rakes in a hefty £8,000 for each episode of Match of the Day he appears on.
Though the runtime of the show can vary depending on fixtures, based on a standard 75-minute highlight episode, that salary roughly works out at just over £107 for every minute he spends on air in the show’s Salford studio.
While Rooney’s Beeb salary isn’t quite as generous as his heady days playing as striker for Manchester United, where he earned more than £200,000 per week, it has left some colleagues gobsmacked.
Wayne Rooney rakes in a hefty £8,000 for each episode of Match of the Day he appears on
Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates make up the trio of Match of the Day’s main presenters. Logan and Chapman earn roughly a third of what Wayne Rooney makes from a single show
The former England captain, 40, made his transition from management to punditry last year when he signed a lucrative deal with the BBC, a welcome financial boost for the father of four, who left third-tier team Plymouth Argyle by mutual consent on New Year’s Eve in 2024.
He appeared regularly during the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup this summer, amusing viewers with his dry wit.
My insider said: ‘Wayne is on a lot of money, it’s quite eye-watering really, but people want to hear what he has to say about football. Everyone loves Wayne, but once this comes out there might be some who feel very hard done by.
‘When it comes to football, the BBC believe that the viewers want to hear his expertise. Some people think that he is grossly overpaid but the audience love him.’
One of those who may be feeling hard done is Rooney’s co-host, Gabby Logan – who anchors MOTD.
She is paid £3,000 for each show, which equates to £40 per minute when the microphones are live.
The mother of two was given the esteemed position by Corporation bosses to make up their three-person presenting team, which also includes Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman after Gary Lineker left the show, following a torrid impartiality row.
Chapman, known as ‘Chappers’ to fans, 52, is paid the same as Logan.
His most recent instalment of Match of the Day, last Saturday evening, saw him pocket £37 per minute for their coverage of the Premier League’s 2026-27 opening weekend – a third of Rooney’s rate.
‘You have to wonder if they will be absolutely fuming to know what Wayne earns,’ says my television insider. ‘But actually, even they have to realise that he has a specialism and he’s running all the way to the bank with it.’
Another of the BBC’s big earners is nepo baby Roman Kemp, 33, who earns a tidy fee for anchoring long-running favourite The One Show – which regularly pulls in an audience of about 3million viewers.
Another of the BBC’s big earners is nepo baby Roman Kemp (pictured with co-presenter Alex Jones), who earns £2,000 each time he anchors The One Show, which regularly pulls in an audience of about 3million viewers
This Morning’s stand-in presenter, Craig Doyle, is paid £3,000 each time he fronts the show
The presenter and DJ, who is the son of actor Martin Kemp, 64, has negotiated a £2,000 appearance fee for each episode he anchors on the green sofa. For a 30-minute programme, that means his rate per minute is £66.
He joined the show in 2022 with a host of other well-known faces, including popular host Alex Jones, following the departure of former Blue Peter star Matt Baker.
The show has been branded ‘nuts’ by some licence-fee payers for its eclectic segments. But, perhaps unsurprisingly given his remuneration, Kemp has leapt to its defence.
He said in 2023: ‘When Alex and I [present the show] it feels like anything can happen. It gets a bit wild with the guests, and it just descends into carnage. He added swiftly: ‘Controlled carnage’.
‘Roman hosts three shows per week sometimes, so that can amount to £24,000 per month,’ says a source familiar with The One Show. ‘It’s a pretty good salary for him really, he must be thrilled. But it will be interesting to know what the licence-fee payers make of that.’
The BBC is not alone in shelling out the big bucks to its talent. The Daily Mail has discovered that ITV This Morning’s stand-in presenter, Craig Doyle, is paid £3,000 each time he fronts the show.
For each of the 150 minutes it is on air, the Irish heart-throb makes £20 – making him a much cheaper hire than others.
He first joined the show in 2021, when it was still considered to be in its heyday, fronted by Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
After impressing bosses and becoming ‘eye candy’ with viewers, then producer Martin Frizell made him a regular relief presenter.
He quickly became a safe pair of hands in the aftermath of the scandal which engulfed the show and threatened its future when Schofield admitted to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much-younger colleague.
Craig’s television career began in the mid-90s when he broke into children’s programming for the channel, hosting Disney Club.
The father of four, who lives in County Wicklow in Ireland with his wife Doon, made his name in the early noughties when he began presenting major sporting events for BBC Sport.
‘Craig loves doing This Morning,’ says my source. ‘ITV know that the women love him, so he’s worth every penny of his £3,000 pay cheque.’
Meanwhile, Doyle’s co-star Rylan Clark is thought to be paid £5,000 per show – £33 per minute he is on air.
Doyle’s co-star Rylan Clark is thought to be paid £5,000 per show – £33 per minute he is on air
Elsewhere in the ITV studios, leading Loose Women hosts are paid approximately £1,000
Clark, 37, who got his ‘big break’ from The X Factor as its novelty act in 2012, was originally welcomed into the fold as a guest entertainment reporter, reporting on behind-the-scenes gossip on the tenth series of the now defunct singing competition.
Thanks to his work at the time on other shows such as Big Brother, he was handed more responsibility, later becoming a relief presenter and once hosted with Schofield, filling in at the last minute for Ms Willoughby when she was unwell.
A source said: ‘He is so in demand and he knows the viewers love him.’
Elsewhere in the ITV studios, leading Loose Women hosts are paid approximately £1,000 for each of their contributions to its 60-minute episodes.
That includes Kaye Adams, Coleen Nolan, Jane Moore, Janet Street-Porter and former stars Denise Welch and Sherrie Hewson.
It works out at just over £16 for each minute they’re sat on their stools, though the anchor – usually the likes of experienced presenters Christine Lampard or Ruth Langsford – is paid more. As indeed was Stacey Solomon, whose popularity meant she commanded a bigger salary.
‘It seems a lot but is it really?’ asks my source. ‘The problem is that there are four of them and that adds up for ITV, who have had to make huge cuts to their programmes.
‘The fact that some earn more than others has made for a sometimes-unpleasant atmosphere behind the scenes, because it’s a real case of survival of the fittest.’
Each of the roughly 20 panellists on Loose Women’s current rotating roster has experienced a notable drop in their earnings recently, following ITV’s decision to cut the programme to just 30 out of the 52 weeks in the year.
They also lost their live audience – and have been forced to share the same set as This Morning, leaving the crew with just a three-minute ad break between the shows to reset the sets.
In total, over 200 staff working in ITV daytime lost their jobs because of the cuts, and those who remained were moved out of its headquarters at Television Centre to Covent Garden in central London.
What would they make of their more famous colleagues’ turbo-charged salaries?
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