TV and radio presenter Paul O’Grady has been moved to comment on the BBC’s gender pay gap issues. It was revealed earlier this year that there is a 6.8% pay gap between male and female on-air talent at the BBC, and many people were shocked by this news. 170 female employees of the BBC demanded an apology, and there were far too many unhappy online reactions to count.
O’Grady was chatting on his BBC Radio 2 show to his producer, Malcolm Prince, when the topic of the Beeb’s unfair pay popped up in the discussion. The pair were talking about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, when Malcolm mentioned that BBC Director General Tony Hall – who’s been at the centre of the pay gap scandal – will be in attendance at the event.
“Oh old Tone, is he going?” asked O’Grady in his usual jovial tone. “Is he a big fan? Just tell him my pay packet is looking ropey when you have a word with him.”
“It’s very unfair what’s going on here with the wages”, O’Grady went on to mention, before explicitly referencing the fact that “the women aren’t getting the full whack”.
“The men are getting more and then there’s poor old Paul O’Grady who doesn’t even exist anymore, who’s buried in the basement of Wogan House, who you’ve forgotten is on the air,” O’Grady continued.
“I’m sure they have [forgotten I’m on air]”, O’Grady added. “I never get a trail or nothing, I never get a mention. Have you noticed? I really am going to kick off.”
Wrapping the discussion up, O’Grady said this: “I’m going to go to commercial radio, I really am – adverts galore. I’ll be there. I’ll be condemning you all. There’ll be a twisted curse placed on the house of Wogan.”
As much as O’Grady seemed to be joking when he made these comments, you can’t help but wonder if there were some true emotions buried beneath the radio host’s banter. Either way, it takes a lot of bravery to mention the BBC’s pay gap scandal while on air at BBC radio.
O’Grady can be heard on BBC Radio 2 every Sunday from 5pm. He also currently hosts Blind Date on the telly.
Radio 2 [h/t Digital Spy]