BBC FOI Request for Celebrity Salaries Not Upheld
Summary
The Information Commissioner's Office issued a decision notice finding in favour of the BBC regarding a Freedom of Information Act request for celebrity salaries from the 2025 series of The Celebrity Traitors. The ICO determined that any salary information held by the BBC would be exempt from disclosure as it was held for journalism, art, or literature purposes. The ICO upheld the BBC's position and requires no remedial action.
What changed
The ICO determined that information regarding salaries paid to celebrities participating in The Celebrity Traitors, if held by the BBC, would constitute data held for 'journalism, art or literature' purposes and therefore falls outside the scope of FOIA. The ICO upheld the BBC's refusal to disclose and requires no remedial steps.
Public authorities holding similar entertainment or media-related salary information should note that such data may qualify for exemption under FOIA journalism provisions. While this decision creates no new compliance obligations, it provides precedent for withholding salary information where journalistic purpose can be demonstrated.
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Apr 8, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Date 2 April 2026
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 3: Not upheld The Complainant requested information about the salaries paid to celebrities taking part in the 2025 series of The Celebrity Traitors and the amount donated to the winner’s nominated charity. The Commissioner’s decision is that this information, if held at all, would be held by the BBC for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature’ and so is not covered by FOIA. He therefore upholds the BBC’s position and requires no remedial steps to be taken in this case.
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