Chester resident and TV presenter Louise Minchin not appearing on the BBC pay list has sent Twitter into meltdown this morning.
Her absence implies she is paid less than £150,000 a year for hosting BBC Breakfast while her co-presenter Dan Walker is on the list for earning more than £200,000.
For the first time, the BBC has released details of its stars who get paid more than £150,000 a year in their annual report.
There has been outrage at the fact only one third of the stars on the list are female and the top seven are all male.
However, more locally, Twitter has gone crazy over the fact that popular Chester presenter Louise Minchin has not made the list while her fellow BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker is mentioned as earning £200,000-£249,999.
A tweet from Matthew James provided a typical reponse: “@louiseminchin how does it feel doing ur job for 14yrs & being paid less than @mrdanwalker whose been doing it 5mins?”
A tweet from Mitch was dripping with irony: “@louiseminchin so the bloke has more talent than you? He is worth more than you for doing the same job. Why is this still a thing it’s 2017!”
Matt Bush speculated that this could end up being the BBC’s loss: “Now we know all this what happens next? Sky poaches Louise Minchin because she’s underpaid by TV standards?”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Louise herself - who earlier this month was seen in the city starting the Race for Life charity event at Chester Racecourse - has remained tight-lipped on the issue after appearing alongside Dan Walker as usual on this morning’s show.
However, Dan Walker himself has provided some insight into the situation by explaining that he and Louise ARE paid the same for presenting BBC Breakfast but he also has a second role at the BBC presenting Football Focus.
The BBC pay list is topped by Radio 2 breakfast presenter Chris Evans - who stages his annual CarFest extravaganza on the Bolesworth Estate near Chester later this month - in the pay bracket £2,200,000-£2,249,999, with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker second on £1,750,000-£1,799,999.
Both are massively ahead of third placed Graham Norton on £850,000-£899,999 while the highest placed female star is Claudia Winkleman on £450,000-£499,999 who is eighth on the list.
