BBC stars Fiona Bruce and Huw Edwards ‘moving eyes’ after pay cut and string of departure dates

To exclude, to expel:

The BBC has been rocked by the departures of Andrew Marr, Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, plus BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker

The BBC News brain drain is far from over – with top talent including Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards, Charlie Stayt and Victoria Derbyshire said to be looking elsewhere.

It follows funding cuts, pay cuts and a flurry of fairness at the running Beeb.

A source from a rival TV station said: “There is a large amount of agents calling constantly. Payment transactions are tight and money is part of it, but the problem is bigger than that. There are many people who feel it. “

The BBC has been rocked by the departures of Andrew Marr, Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, plus BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker.

Maitlis left after a rapping for expressing his views on social media, and Marr said he “would love to get my voice back” when he left Global last year.

Their departure, along with several others last year, is said to have saved the BBC £2million in wages.

But an attempt by ITV’s Good Morning Britain to hunt for Amol Rajan as a replacement for Piers Morgan was thwarted by BBC bosses, who are said to have “doubled down” on his £250,000 payment deal.

A source said: ‘They threw money at him and it worked.

“But the message is that a lot of people are fed up with the BBC and people want to get out.”

Wage bills for presenters have been shrinking in recent years in an effort to save cash on license fees and close the gender pay gap.

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Walker, who left to become the main presenter for Channel 5 News, is said to have swapped his £295,000 BBC salary for a £1.5m package, although he said: “I haven’t yet. never motivated by money”.

Other BBC staffers said to feel restless include Mishal Husain, who fell to Laura Kuenssberg as a replacement for Marr on BBC1’s Sunday Morning.

Presenter salaries have shrunk in recent years to close the gender pay gap and save cash on license fees.

Another source on the rival broadcaster said representatives for Bruce, 58, Derbyshire, 53, Edwards, 60, and Stayt, 59, had all been contacted. Agents for the four did not respond to a request for comment yesterday. The BBC would not comment.

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