Gemma Collins is the latest star to quit the BBC after being offered a lucrative deal by a rival broadcaster, according to reports.
The former Towie star’s The Gemma Collins Podcast has proved a hit for the BBC since it first launched back in 2019 and even spawned dating advice spin-off The Love Lounge.
Now the 41-year-old is said to have signed a commercial deal for five times the salary she received at the BBC.
She is the latest star to leave the BBC after former Strictly Come Dancing star Dan Walker, Andrew Marr and Emily Maitlis have quit.
As well as more money, the self-confessed diva is believed to have been offered more editorial control over her content which Collins has openly said in the past has been a bone of contention for her at the BBC.
“She has quit the BBC because she managed to negotiate an amazing deal to take her podcast elsewhere,” a source told The Sun.
“Gemma is getting paid a figure that the BBC just couldn’t afford and will be getting far more editorial control.”
They continued: “Gemma loves the BBC and knows they helped get her podcast to where she is now. But this move will help keep her career moving.”
Collins uses her podcast to give fans a candid insight into her private life, recently including her plans to start a family with fiancé Rami Hawash.
It has been reported the GC plans to be even “more outrageous” when The Gemma Collins Podcast returns later this year.
The Standard was told by the BBC: “The Gemma Collins Podcast has run for six wonderful series, and we would like to thank Gemma for her infectious energy, and for giving the nation a no-holds barred insight into her life.”
A representative for Gemma Collins declined to comment.
Elsewhere, Collins was recently forced to pull out of a UK and Ireland tour of musical Chicago after a pre-existing knee injury flared up.
She had been due to star as Mama Morton and she was said to have been “inconsolable” at having to leave.
Loose Women star Brenda Edwards was announced as her replacement.
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