ITV’s Holly Willoughby has received a huge pay rise of £200,000, finally making her equal to her co-host, Phillip Schofield.
Willoughby, who has worked with Schofield for 11 years, received the pay rise after she struck a new deal with ITV.
The pay disparity was uncovered during negotiations for the return of ITV’s Dancing on Ice. ITV bosses are thought to have offered both Willoughby and Schofield the same amount of £200,000.
However, this only highlighted the difference in pay that the pair receive for their work on This Morning.
Speaking to The Mirror, a source at ITV said, “It seemed ridiculous they were going to get paid the same fee for Dancing on Ice but Holly was lagging behind on This Morning.”
“Quite rightly, that has now been rectified and they both earn exactly the same.”
It is now thought that the presenters will now earn the same for any TV projects that they front together.
The news comes after the BBC’s recent gender pay gap revelation, which saw them having to defend the wages of its highest paid male stars.
In July, the BBC released the salaries of its highest paid stars, revealing a shocking gender pay gap. Claudia Winkleman is the highest paid woman, earning £450,000; while Chris Evans is the highest paid man, earning £2.2 million.
Within the top ten highest-earning stars, only three are women – Winkleman; newsreader Fiona Bruce, who earns over £350,000; and Alex Jones, who earns over £400,000.
In direct response to the BBC’s revelation, ITV’s Good Morning Britain presenter, Piers Morgan weighed into the argument, suggesting that ITV is the BBC, “in reverse.”
He said, “We are the BBC in reverse!”
He continued, “They preach about equality but I’m not seeing much evidence the BBC practices what it preaches.”
