BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan has defended his salary amid proposed cuts at the corporation.

The 52-year-old is currently the seventh highest earner in the corporation with a salary of £405,000 in 2024-25, earning £10,000 more than former BBC Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg. This figure excludes any earnings for programmes made through his own production company, Third Street Studios

Nolan is also the only regional star to make the list of the broadcaster’s top earners. Earlier this month, the BBC announced that they were cutting between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs in an attempt to make £500m in savings due to “significant financial pressures.”

Defending his salary, Stephen Nolan told Belfast Live: “I get a lot of flak for many different things, because of what the Nolan Show is. It’s a magnet for people to say it as it really is, right, every single day, and long may that continue.

“I can tell you now, true bill, but the thing that I get the least hassle, stroke conversation about is my salary, and that’s the truth out in the street, and I think that’s because, I’m not too sure this is the corporate BBC, answer that they want, right, but there’s a working class guy from a working class estate in Northern Ireland that’s getting paid really well in the BBC. What’s wrong with that? What do you want it to be?

“So I’m actually very proud of where I came from, and guess what, I like to earn money and I’m trying to be as successful as I can be, and what I usually get is, you know, some punters, yeah, they’re joking with me and they’re they’re winding me up and all that, you know, lend us a few quid and all that kind of stuff, very few people resent it.”

He added: “The other thing is, though, again, as I get older, I’m in a different space now where the things that are important to me in life, so I’ve made enough money now that I’m comfortable, I don’t think there’s anybody in any doubt about that. But for me, people knowing who I really am, which is that I’m trying to be a decent journalist in an environment in Northern Ireland where there is tension, and sometimes it is dangerous to tell the story.

BBC’s top earners 2024-25

1. Gary Lineker (£1.35m)

2. Zoe Ball (£515k)

3. Alan Shearer (£440k)

4. Greg James (£425k)

5. Nick Robinson (£410k)

6. Fiona Bruce (£410k)

7. Stephen Nolan (£405k)

8. Laura Kuenssberg (£395k)

9. Vernon Kay (£390k)

10. Justin Webb (£365k)

Nolan sat down with Belfast Live ahead of his new TV series, which airs tonight, April 27, on BBC One. The veteran presenter spent two years following a team of PSNI officers as they tackled drug dealers, chased stolen cars and dealt with hostile crowds.

Peelers: The PSNI For Real, Stephen brings viewers on an unprecedented journey inside the heart of the police service.

Stephen added that the series made him appreciate having parents who “smothered” him with love, and that this isn’t the case for everyone.

“There’s a sadness to lots of the people that interact with the police,” he said. “There are also some bad people, you know, committing crimes, that you just get to see it and the impact of it on victims so starkly that it’s a complete eye opener.

“It’s the most profound experience I’ve had in my journalistic career, and I stand with that 100 per cent. Some nights I’m home, not able to sleep because of what I’d seen and thinking about the what ifs, it’s just crazy.”

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