He was recently revealed to be one of the best paid men on the BBC, with a salary of £349,000.
Yet Nick Knowles has hit back at criticism over his whopping pay packet and reasoned that it’s an ‘imperfect’ world we live in, as he compared his earnings to that of premier league footballers and surgeons.
Speaking to The Sun, the presenter – who is reportedly facing a ‘six-figure’ tax bill – defended his wage.
Defence: He was recently revealed to be one of the best paid men on the BBC, with a salary of £349,000. Yet Nick Knowles has hit back at criticism over his whopping pay packet
Nick – who has fronted the BBC’s DIY SOS since 1999 reasoned: ‘On a personal level of course it’s quite difficult. But there are proper reasons, and I think most people in the industry understand it.
‘If you hire a presenter that actually carries a number of viewers with them, it’ll get five and a half million viewers, it’ll get another series and they’ll get another half a million pounds worth of business – so it’s a good bit of business.
‘Anybody who earns a lot takes some explaining to people that don’t, and we live in an imperfect world where somebody who sings songs for a living makes more than a heart surgeon.’
BBC stalwart: Nick – who has fronted the BBC’s DIY SOS since 1999 compared his earnings to that of premier league footballers and surgeons
Nick’s comments come amid claims he is being probed for not paying enough tax.
He is just one of the BBC’s big names whose affairs are being investigated by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.
Stars at the corporation have set up personal service companies and registered as self-employed thereby paying less tax and it is understood Nick is one of the individuals being probed.
A source told the Daily Star on Sunday: ‘I know his first tax instalment will be around £60k – and that’s just for starters.’
Probed: Nick’s comments come amid claims he is being probed. He is just one of the BBC’s big names whose affairs are being investigated by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs
Nick’s tax headache comes as his bitter divorce is played out in public, after his marriage to wife Jessica Moor broke down.
Since his split Nick has been in a relationship with Rebecca Kearns, but as divorce proceedings rumble on it appears to be some time before he and his ex finally reach a settlement.
Jessica claims Nick pulled funding for their three-year-old son Eddie’s private school education. She is reportedly asking for more than £48,000 a year from him.
She also recently claimed that Nick had subjected her to ’emotional abuse’ in a scathing tweet, which she deleted soon after.
Spokesmen for both Nick and the BBC declined to comment on his tax affairs.
Former flames: Nick’s tax headache comes as his bitter divorce is played out in public, after his marriage to wife Jessica Moor broke down