Casualty star Tom Chambers apologises after his comments that 'men have to pay for their wives and children' in defence of the BBC gender pay gap are slammed as 'sexist'

Tom Chambers slammed for saying 'men's salaries are for wives and children'
Prompted a backlash on social media with comments described as 'offensive'
Others said his words were demeaning to women who provide for families
Chambers had been defending co-star Derek Thompson over his high salary

By Joseph Curtis and Paddy Dinham For Mailonline

Published: 13:47 BST, 25 July 2017 | Updated: 21:11 BST, 25 July 2017

e-mail

1.1k

View
comments

Casualty star Tom Chambers has been to apologise after suggesting men need more cash because they 'have to pay for their wives and children' to justify the BBC pay gap.

The actor was accused of having a '1950s' mindset over the comments after being criticised on social media.

Others described his comments as offensive while gay rights activists also took aim at the soap star.

Chambers was defending his Casualty co-star Derek Thompson after it was revealed last week he earns a salary of between £350,000 and £399,000 for his role as nurse Charlie Fairhead, which he has played for 31 years.

Tom Chambers, who plays Sam Strachan on the BBC's Casualty, left, has been slammed on social media for suggesting men need higher salaries because they have to 'pay for their wives and children'. He is pictured right with wife Clare Harding

But, backtracking, he told MailOnline: 'I am completely mortified by the stories that have run today and didn’t mean to offend anyone by my comments which have been taken out of context from a conversation I had at a book launch.

'I in no way advocate the gender pay gap and I was explaining that I thought it had stemmed from that past, and shouldn’t be how things are now. I truly believe that change needs to happen.'

Chambers, pictured, also defended co-star Derek Thompson's status as the BBC's highest-paid actor saying he 'deserved it for 31 years of service'

Speaking to The Sun, Chambers said Thompson had 'earned his credits like a footballer' thanks to his decades of 'arriving in the dark and leaving in the dark'.

He then added: 'My wife works really hard as a stay-at-home mum, but I'm the only one bringing in a salary for our family.

'Many men's salaries aren't just for them, it's for their wife and children, too.'

It prompted a backlash on social media against Chambers who plays paramedic Sam Strachan on the BBC show and previously won the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Stella Creasey wrote: 'Guessing dancing in 1950s musicals has given Tom Chambers that kind of mindset too… #21stcenturycalling'.

Caroline Hirons added: Tom Chambers' wife needs to take him in hand. And then throat punch him.'

Karen Phillips said on Twitter: 'Really?? We're you misunderstood in this piece or are you just offensive? I provide for my family. Period. #2017'

And gay rights activist Sarah-Elizabeth Daly wrote on the social media site: 'How do me and my wife get one of these bread winners Tom Chambers is talking about? Is there a form we have to fill in?'

Many on Twitter took aim at Chambers' defence of the pay gap and said it forced some mothers to stay at home, pictured

Others questioned why women could not be considered bread winners, pictured

Some accused Chambers of sexism and said he should 'go back to the 1950s'

It comes after the BBC was forced to publish salary details for the 96 stars who earn more than £150,000, the pay of PM Theresa May.

People were aghast at the sums for its top earners, with Radio 2 host Chris Evans taking £2.25million.

ARCHERS MATRIARCH IS PAID JUST £16,000

After starring in The Archers for 60 years, Patricia Greene has earned the respect of colleagues and the love of countless fans of the Radio 4 drama.

But it seems the 86-year-old hasn’t earned much else for playing Jill Archer.

Listeners were horrified when the woman known as ‘the nation’s grandmother’ revealed she only gets £16,000 a year – a fraction of the amounts paid to other BBC stars.

One fan tweeted: ‘Jill Archer only gets £16,000!!! Disgusting.’

Speaking after the BBC announced the salaries of the 96 presenters and actors who earn more than £150,000, including Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans on £2.3million, Miss Greene said: ‘It’s obscene. You don’t earn that kind of money sitting at a microphone, do you? It’s just ridiculous.’

Referring to Evans, she told the Daily Telegraph: ‘He’s probably a very nice chap and he’s very clever... but I don’t think £2million is a good fee for somebody on the radio.’

Miss Greene said such huge salaries contrasted starkly with cuts to The Archers, adding: ‘It makes me laugh that we can only have six characters per episode because of money.’

But the biggest shock was the gulf between the pay of male and female presenters, and the absence of some prominent women.

Just a third of its highest-paid stars were women, with seven male stars paid more than the BBC's biggest earning female presenter, Claudia Winkleman, who is on up to £500,000.

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis earlier this week urged male colleagues to join the gender pay gap fight – as women staff at the Corporation went into open revolt.

More than 40 well-known female presenters have already written to BBC boss Lord Hall demanding he put men and women on equal levels of pay immediately.

But by yesterday, the rebellion had spread further – with dozens more employees protesting on social media.

Newsreader and Antiques Roadshow host Fiona Bruce, news presenter Victoria Derbyshire, Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, sports presenter Clare Balding, and One Show host Alex Jones all signed the open letter, which was organised by Woman's Hour host Jane Garvey.

Lord Hall insisted the BBC had made a bigger commitment to closing the gender pay gap than other organisations.

He said he had made it a 'personal priority' to fix the gap since 2013, adding: 'When figures are published next year I am confident they will look very different.

'When other organisations publish their gender pay data by next April, I want the BBC to be one of the best performers.

'Over the next three years I want the BBC to be regarded as an exemplar on gender and diversity.'