Chris Evans asked 91-year-old mum for advice over BBC pay backlash
Written by News on 20/07/2017
Chris Evans has said he phoned his 91-year-old mother for advice after he was revealed as the BBC’s highest earner.
The Radio 2 DJ and former Top Gear star admitted he needed some words of wisdom on answering tricky questions about his £2.2m salary.
He said his mother had told him to "earn what you can, when you can, while you can".
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Evans said: "What do you say when confronted with the question ‘are you embarrassed about what you earn? Are you ashamed of what you earn?’
"How do you react to that question when all you’re doing is coming to work every day like you have been for years to fulfil an agreed contract?
"So here’s what I did. I called my mum," he told radio listeners.
"She’s 91, she’s very wise, she was in the war, and I asked her what she thought.
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"She said: ‘Hang on a minute love, let me just turn the telly down’, she was watching Columbo on catch-up at the time, as she often is," Evans explained.
"She said: ‘Tell them that your mum, who’s a nurse for most of her life, always told you after your dad died to try to find a job you loved, just like I love nursing, and earn what you can, when you can, while you can…
"’And tell them if your bosses don’t think you’re worth it one day, they’ll sort that out soon enough’."
Evans added: "So there you are – I’m going with what my mum said and that’s it… I thank my mum for advice, as always.
"I live by her word and I will die by her word."
The presenter, who last year quit his Top Gear role following criticism, now fronts the massively popular breakfast show on Radio 2.
He was named as the BBC’s highest earner after the corporation was forced by the Government to reveal the salaries of its top stars.
The list was criticised for revealing an apparent gender pay gap between many big-name presenters and journalists.
(c) Sky News 2017: Chris Evans asked 91-year-old mum for advice over BBC pay backlash
