Radio 1 star Greg James reveals his starting salary at the station as a 21-year-old graduate was £80,000 as he defends ‘imperfect’ BBC

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I’ve been waking up with him on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show for seven years now, and it’s incredible to think over 4 million people tune in with me every single weekday morning. He really starts my day off right!

Greg James recently shared that when he started at the BBC at age 21, his salary was a substantial £80,000, demonstrating the high regard his employers had for his potential.

In his new book, *All the Best for the Future: Growing Up Without Growing Old*, Greg shares insights from his professional life and experiences with personal finance.

When he was 21, the man, now 39, had a big decision to make: a job at a local radio station paying £18,000, or a much higher-paying job at the BBC for £80,000.

I still remember when I first heard he’d landed the BBC gig! It was incredible. And get this – he actually *started* hosting the Early Breakfast Show the day after he finished university in 2007! Seriously, the day after! Talk about hitting the ground running – it was like he was born to do this. I was hooked from day one.

Greg, now making £425,000 annually hosting the Breakfast Show, explained to The Times that he included that story in his book to express his gratitude and highlight how much his career had progressed from local to national broadcasting.

I was completely surprised! I didn’t know what people earned back then, and pay seems even lower now, though there’s a possibility of getting equity or ownership as well.

If you’re going to reveal my salary, I’ll tell you what I earned at my first job. If that’s how we’re going to do this, that’s acceptable.

In the interview, James spoke in support of the BBC, acknowledging it’s not flawless, but expressing respect for its efforts to maintain objectivity by separating the personal views of its presenters from their reporting.

He said he has a lot of respect for the BBC and its purpose, explaining that it’s important for the organization to maintain objectivity, as you can’t expect thousands of presenters to share their personal views constantly.

It’s true, the BBC isn’t perfect, and it never will be. But that’s simply because it’s made up of people – lots of them – trying to run a very large organization.

Greg’s new book is set to be released Thursday 25 September. 

The memoir style non-fiction is mixed with self-help alongside some comical anecdotes and tales. 

This book aims to inspire adults to embrace their playful side and not lose their sense of fun, a message that perfectly matches the radio host’s energetic and lighthearted on-air personality.

For instance, this summer he became godfather to the baby of fellow Radio 1 hosts Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo after winning Radio 1’s ‘Giant Face Off’ competition.

Radio 1 recently challenged teams led by Greg and Jamie to solve clues and travel to various locations across the UK.

As soon as we picked a spot, it was a mad dash to grab flags featuring each of our opponents’ faces – whoever collected the most flags won! It was such a fun, competitive scramble.

Following a frantic search that sent teams to places like Barry, Derry, and even the Shetland Islands, and a close final challenge in Newcastle, Greg won with 10 flags, just ahead of Jamie who collected nine.

However, winning the competition came with a big opportunity: Jamie would have become the host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

Despite losing, the Made In Chelsea star had to agree to a condition: he would name Greg as godfather to his and Sophie’s soon-to-be-born child.

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2025-09-21 12:19