Saturday 18 June 2022 12:25 PM 'This should never be about money!' Dan Walker squirms when quizzed about ... trends now
Dan Walker squirmed when asked about his '£1.5 million salary' at Channel 5 News, before claiming he doesn't earn more than the alleged figure.
The journalist, 45, made his debut on the progamme earlier this month, after leaving his anchoring role on BBC Breakfast, which he had held for six years.
He went on to admit he'll 'have more freedom to express an opinion' at his new place of work but vowed not to 'portray a persona like Piers Morgan' because it would 'feel very fake'.
'This should never be about money!' Dan Walker squirmed when quizzed about his '£1.5m salary' at 5 News before vowing not to portray a 'fake Piers Morgan persona' in his new role (pictured in June 2022)
During an interview with The Times, the former Strictly star was asked about his reported earnings at the Viacom-owned channel but soon shut down the reporter.
He said: 'I'll answer anything, except about money. It really makes me laugh how you guys love to speculate and you always get it so wrong.'
Just moments earlier, he had insisted that he was happy to be asked 'anything' but soon said 'this should never be about money'.
He continued: 'Especially when people are struggling. Let's just say I'm privileged to do this job. And I always get asked about how much I earn, but never how much I give away.'
Rivals: The Crawley-native butted heads with Piers numerous times over the years, who anchored BBC Breakast's rival ITV programme Good Morning Britain until last year (pictured in 2020)
The Crawley-native butted heads with Piers numerous times over the years, who anchored BBC Breakast's rival ITV programme Good Morning Britain until last year.
On changing his presenting style for Channel 5, Dan claimed he has 'never dipped to Piers' level of insults' and could 'never inhabit his persona 'because he would feel very fake.'
He said: 'I don't need to do that sort of thing. When I first started at BBC Breakfast I met him at a function and he said, "You're going to be terrible. We're going to annihilate you." But my attitude was to remain quietly confident.'
Dan marked his first day on his new Channel 5 job by appearing on Good Morning Britain in a brief appearance which saw him jokingly storm off the set.
Frenemies: On changing his presenting style for Channel 5, Dan claimed he has 'never dipped to Piers' level of insults' and could 'never inhabit his persona 'because he would feel very fake'
He bid farewell to BBC Breakfast after six years at the helm and will begin his new role Channel 5's evening bulleting with Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije at 5pm on Monday.
And Dan marked the first day of his new job with an appearance on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday, where he spoke about leaving breakfast TV behind him.
But Dan was also quizzed about his TV rival and former GMB host Piers by Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, and pretended to storm off the show in a lighthearted dig at the broadcaster, 57.
Susanna asked him: 'Would you have come on this show when the former occupant of Richard's seat was on? Could you and Piers Morgan be in a studio together?'
Jibe: Dan marked his first day on his new Channel 5 job by appearing on Good Morning Britain in a brief appearance which saw him jokingly storm off the set (pictured)
To which he replied: 'Of course we could. You know what he’s like. He’s a troublemaker. But he’s good to spend time with.'
But at the end of the interview, Dan jokingly pretended to storm
