Posing alongside the head chef of prestigious Japanese restaurant Nobu, Tess Daly and Vernon Kay wore broad smiles – and with little wonder.
Not only were the popular broadcasting couple there to sample some of the London eaterie’s culinary delights for free, but they had also struck a deal to be ambassadors for its global chain of hotels and restaurants.
For Nobu’s bosses, the partnership is something of a no-brainer. Glamorous Tess, 56, has a devoted following thanks to her role as co-host of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, while her husband Vernon, 51, has successfully made the switch to radio, occupying BBC Radio 2’s prime mid-morning slot.
For the couple, the restaurant deal means extra cash to top up their already-hefty combined annual salary of about £1million. Bolton-born Vernon earns around £395,000 for presenting the UK’s biggest radio show after he replaced veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce in 2023.
And while a technical loophole means Tess’s salary from the publicly funded corporation is no longer published – Strictly is produced by commercial arm BBC Studios, which is exempt from releasing such details – it’s understood to be in excess of £400,000.
The value of the pair’s ambassadorial role with Nobu has not been disclosed, but it is likely to be significant.
However, not everyone is grinning so broadly. I am told there are grumblings among some BBC colleagues who have become dismayed that the couple are allowed to cash in on their status at the Corporation – not just with Nobu but a string of lucrative partnerships.
This is understandable given that, historically, the Beeb’s talent were not permitted to endorse products or brands to protect its integrity and public trust.
Tess Daley and Vernon Kay at Nobu. For the couple, the restaurant deal means extra cash to top up their already-hefty combined annual salary of about £1million
As one insider fumed to me this week: ‘They are paid so much by the BBC, yet they are allowed to earn even more outside it.
‘This wasn’t allowed in the past, but the BBC appears to have relaxed its rules so that the likes of Tess and Vernon are allowed to do this now.’
It’s not the first time Tess, who will return next weekend alongside Claudia Winkleman to host the 21st season of Strictly, has raised eyebrows with her willingness to promote products off the back of her TV fame, including some in which she has a financial stake. Recent promotional campaigns include one for vitamin supplements giant Vitabiotics, where she is the face of its WellWoman range. There has also been a jewellery brand collaboration with
TV shopping channel QVC and another with travel firm All Inclusive Collection with which she has taken free luxury holidays abroad.
Those trips allowed Tess to post stunning photographs on her Instagram page, which were a double win for the presenter because she was featured modelling and promoting her own swimwear range, Naia Beach.
She has previously used her social media platforms to announce to her 875,000 followers that the collection had become available in John Lewis, and she has also recently appeared in a Marks & Spencer Christmas campaign, alongside Vernon.
In 2023, the pair, who live in a £4million mansion in Buckinghamshire, were paid to appear in videos that featured them sampling dishes from the chain’s festive food range and rating them.
Tess will return next weekend alongside Claudia Winkleman to host the 21st season of Strictly
Vernon, who started his career as a model, has regularly carried out clothing promotions for the retailer, posting images on his Instagram page dressed head-to-toe in its latest collections.
In one post, he is seen walking past a branch of M&S in a cream suit, writing alongside the clip: ‘Pavement or runway? Who can tell when you’re looking this sharp.’
His appeal to the retail giant is no doubt elevated by the fact that he broadcasts to nearly seven million listeners a week.
It’s important to point out that the couple, who have been married since 2003 and share daughters Phoebe, 20, and 16-year-old Amber, are doing nothing wrong.
Still, it was once a cast-iron rule that on-air talent should not promote or endorse third-party products or services, lest they blur the line between editorial content and advertising. Doing so was seen as compromising the public’s trust in a broadcaster that is supposed to remain neutral. While those rules have since been relaxed, many stars still live by these standards and prefer not to use their taxpayer-funded fame – especially if those salaries are already hefty – to cash in further.
No one could deny Tess and Vernon their success, however. Indeed, they are friendly and well-liked in the industry.
But down to earth they may be, their recent commercial deals have seen them bask in exquisite and far-flung hospitality. For Nobu, the pair have attended several promotional events, including a visit to its Dubai venue.
Vernon was a guest at the Super Bowl in New Orleans in February and then attended the men’s singles final at Wimbledon, accompanied by his daughter Phoebe (wearing an outfit from Marks & Spencer, naturally, which he later tagged on Instagram).
Known for being a keen golfer, he was also at the Masters in April, where he was seen with the tournament’s winner Rory McIlroy.
Vernon has had lucrative tickets for sell-out music gigs, too. He and Tess were VIP guests of DJ Pete Tong’s highly anticipated gig at the Royal Albert Hall in June.
But it was his multiple appearances at Oasis’s over-subscribed reunion tour that drew the most attention. Several fans queried how he had managed to bag his spot to not one but two gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park.
Vernon responded to the social media jibes by insisting, simply, that he ‘paid for them’, adding: ‘Smashed the credit card.’
Fans who couldn’t get tickets were further enraged to see him in a private box at Wembley for a further gig.
And they are not alone. BBC insiders say junior staff are ‘growing tired’ of the broadcaster’s star talent topping up their incomes and lifestyles.
As one put it: ‘We’re all held to the highest standards, every day, but the biggest names are allowed to have extra incomes, helped very much by their high-profile roles on the BBC.
‘They are really liked at the Beeb – they are kind and incredibly normal and down-to-earth in many ways.
‘They have a lovely life, as well as being paid an absolute fortune, but then they use their fame to get all the perks and extras the rest of us can only dream of.’
But the big question, perhaps, is this one. ‘While BBC bosses wouldn’t deem them to be doing anything wrong, for viewers, does it really pass the taste test?’ As the source added: ‘Probably not.’
