Bosses at the BBC were so keen to keep presenter Paddy McGuinness from working for ITV that they gave him a hefty retainer even after the shows he starred in had been axed, sources say.
Insiders at the Corporation told The Mail on Sunday that the host was paid around £250,000 despite the fact that Top Gear and Question Of Sport had been taken off air.
A source also claims that production staff were tasked with coming up with new concepts for McGuinness, whom they lured from ITV in 2018 to front the motoring show Top Gear.
One said: ‘Paddy is loved by BBC Studios and they wanted to keep him in the family even though both of his programmes had been axed.
‘He was picking up a nice sum of cash for it, too. Some production staff were told they had to come up with a great new project for him.’
Paddy McGuinness is set to stay at the BBC despite his shows being pulled, sources have said
Top Gear is off air indefinitely after a horror car crash involving Paddy’s former co-presenter Freddie Flintoff (Chris Harris also pictured, right)
McGuinness with former Question of Sport co-stars Sam Quek and Ugo Monye
BBC Studios – the BBC’s commercial arm – declined to comment on claims about McGuinness. But his lawyers did say that he doesn’t have a retainer.
In 2021, he was announced as the new host of Question Of Sport, replacing Sue Barker.
However, the show was axed in December 2023, following its lowest-ever ratings. McGuinness’s Top Gear career also came to a halt in December 2022 following his co-presenter Freddie Flintoff’s crash during filming.
Last year, it was confirmed the show won’t return for the foreseeable future.
McGuinness’s BBC career was masterminded by Sumi Connock, BBC Studios’ creative director of formats, who acted as his cheerleader during his job at ITV, where he hosted the dating show Take Me Out.
After leaving ITV and joining the BBC in 2017, Connock became responsible for Top Gear. A year later, McGuinness, 51, joined the show.
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