BBC Radio 2 rich list revealed - highest paid earners from Zoe Ball to Scott Mills

Scott Mills has bagged himself a big pay rise after landing the Radio 2 breakfast show - but Zoe Ballwas still paid more than him last year. The new BBC Annual report shows Scott earned £355,000 - £359,999 in the annual accounts for 2024/25.

Last year in the report Scott was listed in the BBC celebrity salary line up as being on £315,000 - £319,999. But the new figures only account for his first 40 breakfast shows, meaning next year he will have covered around 200 shows and be closer to Zoe Ball’s breakfast salary of £515-519,000. Other Radio 2 DJ’s on big money include Vernon Kay on £390-394,999 and Sara Cox on £310,000-£314,999. In total there are nine the BBC top pay list.

Speaking in January, Scott referred to the BBC pay transparency and defended his six figure contract.

At the time he said: I’ve worked for this my whole life. I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and I’ll tell you how much I got paid then — £20 a show. And it was a five-hour show in the middle of the night, 1 until 6am.

“Obviously there’s always curiosity around salaries because they get published every year. But I don’t think you can say that I haven’t played the long game.

“I hope people won’t think, ‘Well, he hasn’t worked very hard for that,’ because I’ve worked for this my whole life.”

He also told the Mirror in January the job meant so much to him when he took over from Zoe Ball that he cried tears of joy.

He said: "It's a massive gig and that isn't lost on me at all. And also I think I've been on BBC Radio for 25 years.

He began his career as a teenager at Power FM, a local station in Hampshire, before moving to GWR FM in Bristol, Piccadilly Key 103 in Manchester and later Heart 106.2.

He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1998 as host of the early breakfast show and went on to present a variety of programmes across the station before launching his popular own Scott Mills show in 2004, which aired between 1pm and 4pm. He later fronted The Official Chart Show from 2018.

He joined Radio 2 in 2022, replacing Steve Wright in an afternoon slot. He took over Radio 2 breakfast at the end of January.

Radio 2 Top 10 pay list

Zoe Ball £515,000-£519,999

Vernon Kay £390,000-£394,999

Scott Mills £355,000-£394,999

Sara Cox £310,000-£314,999

Jeremy Vine £310,000-314,999

Trevor Nelson £245,000-249,999

Jo Whiley £230,000-£234,999

Owain Wyn Evans £195,000-£199,000

Gary Davies £178,000-£184,999

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