Gary Lineker, 57, has managed to get people rather riled up on Twitter after he made a joke suggesting he needs a “pay rise”, despite being the BBC’s highest-paid star.
The Match of the Day presenter and former England international footballer took to Twitter after it was revealed it would be his 20th season as the show’s host.
This news was tweeted via Match of the Day’s Twitter account, and Lineker retweeted it and captioned the tweet joking: “Christ! 20 years: must be due a pay rise.”
This joke didn’t go down very well at all with other Twitter users, many of whom pointed out that Lineker was already the BBC’s top earner.
Christ! 20 years: must be due a pay rise? 🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/4Ab9NR1L2h
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 5, 2019
Read more: Piers Morgan calls on BBC rich list earner Gary Lineker to slam TV licence cuts
It was reported that the presenter is being paid £1.75m a year by the BBC, and following his tweet, many social media users pointed out that his wages could cover the entire cost of the TV licence for thousands of UK pensioners.
Other Twitter users claimed that the former footballer was “fishing” for a reaction and others even suggested that he was “trolling” some of the BBC’s female presenters.
One user took to Twitter and wrote: “Pay rise? What about the women at the BBC who work hard?”
Another added: “The arrogance of jug ears— on millions of quid a year for an hour’s work reading a teleprompter plus virtue signalling all day long.”
A third user commented: “I think you earn enough,” while one more person said: “You go get that pay rise Gary, then donate it to everyone who has lost their free TV licences because they have to pay to give you that pay rise in the first place.”
This comes after the BBC announced that it wouldn’t be offering free TV licences to over 75s, which will affect over 3.7 million people in the United Kingdom.
Read more: Gary Lineker tops the BBC’s rich list – but there have been huge pay rises for female stars
Meanwhile, there are rumours that he could be dating TV chef Gizzi Erskine after the pair were spotted at a music festival in London together back in May.
According to an eyewitness at the All Point East Festival in London this weekend, the Match of the Day presenter “only had eyes” for the TV chef.
“They were getting on like a house on fire and having a right laugh. They watched a lot of the acts,” the source told The Mirror.
However, a friend of Gizzi denied they were an item, saying: “They are not dating. They met via Jonathan Downey at Dinerama five years ago.
“Gary has never been to a festival before and Gizzi took him along.”
What did you make of Gary Lineker’s comments on Twitter? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!