Clare Balding earns £1m a year

Clare Balding is reportedly earning £1 million a year as one of the best-paid women on TV.

The BBC sports broadcaster - who started her career with the Beeb in 1994 and rose to prominence presenting horse racing - and her wife Alice Arnold are said to have taken dividends worth over £2 million from her Clearly Clare company over the last two years, according to accounts published this week, the Daily Mirror newspaper reports.

The BBC has revealed Wimbledon host Clare was paid between £180,000 and £189,999.

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While she also presents major sporting events like the Olympic Games, the 47-year-old star\'s income soars even further due to various book deals - including \'My Animals and Other Family\' - and her work for BT.

It\'s noted that her partner Alice owns 50 per cent of the shares in Clearly Clare Limited, which means the figures could also include her earnings.

The firm paid a dividend of £1.9 million in 2016 and £125,210 the following year, which puts Clare\'s earnings at a much higher level than fellow presenters like Jeremy Vine (£440,000 to £449,000) and Huw Edwards (£520,000 to £529,000).

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It was thought Claudia Winkleman could be the top paid female BBC star thanks to her earnings of up to £380,000 for her Radio 2 show and other programmes.

She also pulls in an undisclosed fee for her role on \'Strictly Come Dancing\' alongside co-host Tess Daly.