Graham Norton took a pay cut of 40% last year, according to figures released by his production company.
The presenter’s company, So Television, paid him £2.97 million last year - a drop of more than £2 million on the previous year when he banked £5.19 million.
The money, for ‘presenter fees’, ‘production fees’ and ‘royalties’, is understood to include his pay from presenting The Graham Norton Show, as well as a large part of his earnings from his other BBC work, but the exact details are not disclosed in the documents.
Additionally, this year’s BBC pay report showed the 56-year-old earned almost £615,000 for his work for the corporation, including his Radio 2 show and the Eurovision Song Contest.
Graham recently admitted he doesn’t think there’s any justification for his high salary, but insisted they’re small change compared to what ITV’s big names earn.
He told Radio Times: “All the people who say, ‘He earns that, he doesn’t deserve that’, they’re absolutely right. You cannot justify my wages, so I don’t try.
“Am I still cashing the cheques? Yes, because somehow the market forces have decreed this is my value. I don’t discuss money. I don’t meet Tony Hall [the head of the BBC] and go, ‘Actually, Tony, I’d like some more. Thanks, Tony’.”
However, pointing the finger at ITV, he’s insisted what he earns is nothing compared to his counterparts at the rival broadcaster.
“For some reason, MPs want to know what famous people at the BBC earn,” he said. “If they could get ITV to tell them what Phillip Schofield gets, they’d love to know.
“Also, I have to say, what would really shock the public is to discover the disparity between ITV and BBC. People would go, ‘Wow!’”
He added: “Also, you may hate me or Gary Lineker or Zoe Ball, but that’s not just what the licence fee is paying for.
“It’s paying for this overall thing. And it’s not like I want to dob people in it, but you read that list and go, really? Me and Gary Lineker are top of the tree? No. We all know there are people who earn a lot more than me and Gary.”