Zoe Ball to be paid less than Chris Evans for hosting Radio 2 breakfast show

'I hope people say, 'that’s fair''

Zoe Ball (Getty Images)

Zoe Ball has confirmed that she will not receive the same pay as Chris Evans for hosting Radio 2’s breakfast show.

The 47-year-old was announced as the former Top Gear-presenter’s replacement on Wednesday morning (3 October), Ball calling it an ”honour and privilege” to take over the highly-coveted position.

Speaking to BBC News, Ball said that she does not expect the same pay as Evans, who was the BBC’s second highest-earning employee last year with a annual salary of £1.6 million.

“I’m definitely not expecting the same,” she said. ”But I have to say we’ve discussed fees and I’m very, very happy with what the BBC are paying. If it’ll all come out one day as these things tend to, I hope people say, ‘that’s fair’.”

Last year, Ball earned £250,000 and £299,000 for her work for the BBC. She has had a long presenting career which began in the 1990s, when she hosted Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and the BBC One children’s programme Live & Kicking.

She moved across to radio in 1997, becoming the first female presenter of the Radio 1 breakfast show alongside Kevin Greening. She began presenting as a stand-in on Radio 2 in 2006, having her own Saturday morning show between 2009 and 2012.

Of taking over from Evans, she said: “To be the first woman to present this very special show is both an honour and privilege.

“Believe me, I’m not underestimating the enormity of the task ahead, to follow not one but two of my broadcasting idols, into such a well-loved show is somewhat daunting.”

Under Evans’s tenure as host, the Radio 2 breakfast show has become the most morning show in the UK, attracting an average 9 million listeners every morning.