Graham Norton: leaving Radio 2 means avoiding scrutiny of BBC rich list
Graham Norton has admitted that unhappiness at having his salary revealed on the BBC rich list was part of his reason for leaving Radio 2.
The presenter quit the station after 10 years for a move to Virgin Radio.
The most recent rich list put his earnings at £730,000, the majority of which came from his weekly Radio 2 show. That figure does not include his BBC One chat show.
Asked if he left Radio 2 because morale at the BBC was low, Norton said: “The only thing that was part of the decision was, ‘Oh, if I stop doing this I’ll get off that list. The high earners list. I didn’t like being on it - hey, now I’m not.
“So to that extent it made me go... but that was a bonus of leaving. It wasn’t the biggest driving force.”
The chief factor in his move, admitted Norton, 57, was the ego boost of being wooed by a rival organisation.
“I was not planning on going anywhere," he said. "It was just being my age and somebody wanting me. You like me? Ok! And it’s amazing how persuasive that is."
Norton continues to present his chat show, in addition to other BBC television work, and remains one of the corporation's highest-paid stars. He said that publication of the rich list in 2017 highlighted the gender pay gap and the lack of black or Asian presenters among the high earners, and that “has to be a good thing”.
He told Mariella Frostrup during an interview on Times Radio: “I don’t think politicians brought the list in for that reason - I think they just wanted to know what famous people earned. They were just legalising it for gossip. But I think it has had a knock-on benefit effect.”
Norton confirmed that he was was persuaded to defect by Chris Evans, another ex-BBC DJ turned Virgin host.
The Radio 2 show “had got as big as it was going to get” and having to record the show in lockdown “had sort of taken the joy out of it - you had to climb six flights of stairs to get to the studio”, Norton claimed. In fact, lifts did go up to the sixth floor Radio 2 studios during lockdown, but people were required to walk down the six flights.
