'Golden handcuffs' keep him at the BBC

Michael McIntyre has reportedly been given a £500,000-a-year ‘golden handcuffs’ deal to stay with the BBC.

The contract is believed to tie him to the corporation for the next 12 months, and prevent him from appearing on ITV and Channel 4.

The deal will involve another series of his Comedy Roadshow, which made him into a household name. The commitment the BBC has already shown help him build such a fast-rising career is likely to have contributed to his decision to stick with them.

The Daily Mail quotes an unnamed BBC source saying: ‘He will be doing a Comedy Roadshow and has said he is not going to do anything else. What the situation will be in a year’s time I don;t know. But he is not going anywhere.’

The size of McIntyre’s deal has been compared to Jonathan Ross’s £6million-a-year as an indication of the financial belt-tightening at the BBC. Both McIntyre and Ross are represented by Addison Cresswell, of Off The Kerb.

Published: 26 Jan 2010