Dan Walker has confirmed his ‘£1.5million’ Channel 5 nightly news gig will start next week – three weeks after he left BBC Breakfast.
After six years at the helm of BBC Breakfast, the broadcaster, 45, will begin presenting Channel 5’s evening bulleting at 5pm on Monday, June 6 alongside Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije.
Walker recently left the publicly funded channel to become the lead anchor on 5 News, which will see him reportedly pocket £1.5million to host it’s nightly news programme.
He made the announcement today on the Jeremy Vine Show and posted a short video to his Twitter with the caption ‘Here we go. See you next Monday at 5, on 5.’
In the clip, Walker said: ‘It’s great to be joining Channel 5, but news is never about who sits in the chair. It’s the stories that matter most from a team you can trust.’
The star was one of the BBC’s highest-paid stars, earning £295,000 a year to host their Breakfast show.
As well as 5 News anchor, Walker’s role will include fronting a range of brand-new non-news programming for Channel 5 for the 5.2 million viewers tuning in every week.
He will replace Sian Willams who decided to leave her daily news presenting role to take up ‘more wide-ranging opportunities’.
When Walker announced his decision to leave the BBC last month, he said: ‘I’m really excited, but this has also been a massive decision for me, because I love Breakfast, I love working alongside Sally [Nugent], and I love the team there.
‘But Channel 5 came with big ambitions, big plans, and I don’t think opportunities like this come around very often, and I can’t wait.’
It comes after Walker’s replacement on the BBC’s flagship morning show will earn less than half of his salary.
Posting on Twitter last week, BBC Breakfast editor Richard Frediani shared the job description for a chief presenter to work alongside hosts Sally Nugent, Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt on the Salford-based programme.
The three-day-a-week job comes under the BBC’s F pay bracket, meaning the successful candidate will earn between £60,000 and £120,000 per year – compared to the £295,000 paid to Walker last year.
While Walker’s overall pay packet would have included a few months’ work on Football Focus before he stood down, the new anchor will also take home less than Stayt, who earned £190,000 in the year 2020/21.
Meanwhile, Ms Munchetty has a salary of £255,000, although that does include her pay for her Radio 5 Live show.
The permanent contract is for 26.5 hours per week and, while BBC sources say that it is policy to advertise jobs, eyebrows have been raised among staff that the post has still to be filled.
The former sports presenter announced last month that he was quitting the BBC after six years at the helm of Breakfast.
He is to join Channel 5 later this spring where he will present the news as well as front other television projects.
Walker, 45, will reportedly earn significantly more money than he was earning at the Corporation.
Speaking of his departure, he said: ‘I love the team at BBC Breakfast.
‘These six years I’ve had on this sofa have been the best six years of my career by some distance.
‘But I think sometimes opportunities come by and you have to grab them, don’t you?
‘I’ve never ever been motivated by money in any job that I’ve ever taken and, even though I love BBC Breakfast and everybody that works on the show, it’s a fantastic opportunity to work with a brilliant team at Channel 5 and also, to go and make some other programmes outside of here.’