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The BBC has published its annual report including details of the highest paid stars, as bosses deal with the fallout from allegations made against a presenter.

Gary Lineker is once again the broadcaster’s biggest earner, taking home between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 in 2022-23 – the same amount as the previous year – for his work on Match Of The Day, Sports Personality Of The Year, the World Cup and FA Cup.

Zoe Ball, who presents Radio 2’s breakfast show, is second on the BBC list, earning between £980,000 and £984,999 for her work on the programme, plus a Terry Wogan tribute. Like Lineker, her salary has not changed in the last 12 months.

The top 10 is made up of six male and four female stars – a change from seven men and three women last year – with football commentator Alan Shearer, news presenters Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce, and radio stars Lauren Laverne and Greg James also among the highest earners.

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However, the list does not paint a full picture as the organisation does not have to make public the salaries of stars who are paid through its commercial arm BBC Studios or independent production companies – so big names such as Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly, Graham Norton, Alex Jones and Michael McIntyre, and the top stars of shows such as EastEnders, are noticeably absent.

In the top 10, Edwards and Laverne, along with former Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce and newsreader Sophie Raworth, saw increases in their pay from the previous year – although salaries for many have remained the same or dipped slightly amid ongoing scrutiny of the BBC over the amounts earned by its top talent.

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Edwards is the corporation’s highest paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £435,000 – £439,999 – up from £410,000 – £414,000 last year. This puts him fourth on the list behind Shearer, who saw a drop in his earnings from £450,000 – £454,999 in 2021-22, to £445,000 – £449,999 this year.

Ken Bruce, who left earlier this year after 31 years at the helm of the Radio 2 mid-morning weekday slot, was up £5,000, to £390,000 – £394,999.

BBC presenter Lauren Laverne. Pic: BBC/Ray Burmiston
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Lauren Laverne hosts Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 and shows on Radio 6 Music. Pic: BBC/Ray Burmiston

Along with Laverne and Raworth he is new to the top 10, as Steve Wright, Vanessa Feltz and Scott Mills have dropped down after leaving their respective BBC shows.

Feltz, who announced in July last year that she was leaving her shows on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio London, was previously in the salary bracket of £400,000 – £404,999. Mills left his BBC Radio 1 show after 24 years in August, but continues to present in the afternoon slot on BBC Radio 2.

Lineker first topped the list in 2017-18, taking a voluntary pay cut of £10,000 in 2020 after pressure from female staff for greater pay parity.

Other stars among the high earners this year include George Alagiah, Naga Munchetty and Amol Rajan (all in the £335,000-£339,999 bracket), Laura Kuenssberg (£305,000-£309,999), and Nicky Campbell and Victoria Derbyshire (£295,000-£299,999).

The annual report also includes salary details for bosses, with director-general Tim Davie taking home between £525,000 and £529,999 in 2022-23.

“I am proud of the content we have delivered – the very best of the BBC – from royal programming to wonderful sporting moments and coverage of the Ukraine war,” Mr Davie said as the figures were released. “We have seen this again recently, with Eurovision, the Coronation and Glastonbury.

“It remains a period of change, financial pressures and great competition in the media market. Our task is not always easy and we have to make some difficult choices.

“But these are challenges we must embrace as we know that the BBC is needed now more than ever, in an age of polarisation and increasing disinformation.”

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Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

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Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

The rapper Ghetts has been charged after a man was killed in a hit-and-run in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He allegedly failed to stop after hitting a 20-year-old man in Ilford last Saturday, the Met Police said.

The 41-year-old appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday – the same day the man died in hospital.

The indictment is expected to change from causing serious injury to causing death by dangerous driving at the next hearing.

Ghetts was remanded into custody and is due to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.

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Ghetts is a grime rapper who played at Glastonbury last year and has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Skepta.

He also had a role in the Netflix drama Supacell.

Last year, he received the Mobo Pioneer Award for his significant contribution to British black culture.

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‘People want you to stay in your lane’: Reese Witherspoon on her ‘deeply personal’ decision to write a novel

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'People want you to stay in your lane': Reese Witherspoon on her 'deeply personal' decision to write a novel

It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.

When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.

He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”

Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
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Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye

As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.

Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.

“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.

“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”

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Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.

Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
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Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try

Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.

“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”

While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”

Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
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Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground

Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”

“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”

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When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”

Coben says they 'fell into a rhythm right away'
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Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’

Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.

“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”

While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.

“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”

Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?

Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”

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Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

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Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

  • Footage from the latest season of The Kardashians shows the reality TV star going for an imaging scan.

The 45-year-old appears to suggest her small aneurysm may have stemmed from stress.

Brain aneurysms are relatively common, with data suggesting they affect about one in every 50 people.

In many cases, patients may be unaware that they have one – as they tend to cause few symptoms when unruptured.

Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic
Image:
Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic

Should an unruptured aneurysm grow to a larger size, it can cause headaches, balance problems and speech issues.

Those that burst are extremely dangerous and can prove fatal in some circumstances.

While aneurysms can emerge throughout the body, they are most typically found in the aorta, which carries blood out of the heart.

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Research suggests brain aneurysms are most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 – with women disproportionately affected.

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Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”

She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.

“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.

Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.

Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.

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