Piers Morgan has defended Gary Lineker's £1.75 million BBC earnings - insisting he would be paid more if he jumped ship to ITV.
Piers Morgan
The 'Good Morning Britain' co-host insists the 'Match of the Day' host - who was revealed as the biggest star earner at the corporation in 2018/19, taking home between £1,750,000 and £1,754,999 for the Saturday football highlights show, 'Sports Personality of the Year' and the 2018 'World Cup' coverage - is on "less than he could get paid almost anywhere else".
He said: "He's getting paid the market rate. He's getting paid, I would argue, less than he could get paid almost anywhere else.
"If ITV came in for Gary Lineker now they'd pay him more than he gets from the BBC. I guarantee it.
"You can say ... 'You can get a gazillion nurses for a Lineker' but that's not how the reality of the marketplace works in television."
Piers admits he "completely defends" Gary, and believes the former footballer should hit out at the BBC's decision to scrap free TV licences for most over-75s.
His comments come after some criticised the ex-England striker's pay in the wake of the corporation's decision to axe the freebie for pensioners.
Speaking on 'Good Morning Britain', Piers added: "If I were Gary Lineker, I'd come out and whack this, I'd call their bluff.
"He fights for every other underdog on Twitter. He's a good mate of mine. I completely defend him on this. I don't think he's to blame.
"If I was Gary, I'd come out on Twitter this morning and attack the decision to take the TV licences away from the pensioners.
"It would be a very brave thing to do. He'd earn himself a lot of favours from people because at the moment he's just getting killed. He's getting killed through no fault of his own at all."
The BBC published the list of its highest-paid stars as part of its annual report, with former BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans second in the list on £1,250,000-£1,254,999.
He left the station to move to Virgin Radio in January, so this fee reflects nine months of work on the channel's breakfast show.
Graham Norton received £610,000-£614,999 for his BBC Radio 2 Saturday show and 'Eurovision', but that fee doesn't include his BBC One chat show, while news reader Huw Edwards has taken a pay cut and received £490,000-£494,999.
Others in the list included 'Match of the Day' and 'World Cup' pundit Alan Shearer (£440,000-£444,999), and 'Strictly Come Dancing' co-host Claudia Winkleman (£370,000-£374,999).
Tagged in Gary Lineker Piers Morgan