Michaela Strachan has discussed her ‘Springwatch’ pay, admitting that she “wouldn’t be upset” if co-presenter Chris Packham was making more money than her.
Chris and Michaela are both fan favourites, having joined the ‘Springwatch’ presenting team in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
They present alongside two other co-hosts and when asked about the team’s pay, Michaela told the Mirror that she’s “absolutely not interested in what anybody else gets paid on ‘Springwatch’”.
“If Chris was paid more, and I don’t know if he is, I wouldn’t be upset because you cannot pay for his knowledge, it’s an extraordinary knowledge,” she explained. “If I’m honest, what Chris brings to ‘Springwatch’ in terms of knowledge is way more than what I can bring.
“Chris is extraordinary and the campaigning that he does is extraordinary and I think he’s everybody’s hero on the team at ‘Springwatch’.
“So I’m not interested in what he earns from it – it’s none of my business.”
The BBC gender pay gap became a hot topic of conversation when the corporation published a list of its top earners back in July 2017.
The report revealed that two-thirds of the BBC’s highest earners were men and also highlighted a lack of BAME figures in top level roles, as only 10 of the 96 highest-paid staff members were non-white.
In the months since the report was published, changes have been made and ‘The One Show’ host Alex Jones recently spoke out to say that the show’s editor “put right” the gap between her pay and co-host Matt Baker’s.
Bosses also previously confirmed that ‘Doctor Who’ lead star Jodie Whittaker will earn the same as her male predecessor, Peter Capaldi.