12 hours after Carrie Gracie resigned as BBC's China editor she had to sit silently while the highest paid presenter interviewed a woman about her story

Carrie Gracie, a senior journalist at the BBC, has been praised after criticising the broadcaster for its "secretive and illegal pay culture" of unequal salaries.

Gracie resigned as BBC China editor to protest the gender pay gap at the corporation, claiming it is "breaking inequality law" in an open letter.

In a bizarre twist, Carrie Gracie co-hosted this morning's Today programme on BBC Radio 4 with John Humphrys - just hours after she revealed her resignation.

People noted on social media that the BBC's highest paid news presenter, male, shared airtime with the woman who just resigned over the gender pay gap at the BBC.

Humphrys earns between £600,000 and £649,000, as revealed by the BBC on government request, a salary he admits he would struggle to explain to a member of the public.

Meanwhile, Gracie famously revealed she earns £92,000-a-year on air during the MPs' expenses scandal.

Whether coincidental or not, people believe the timings of her resignation and appearance have shone a harsh light on some uncomfortable truths.

Carrie Gracie led the news agenda - but the news presenter couldn't talk about the news that led the agenda because she was the news that led the agenda.

So, she had to sit in silence next to Humphrys while he interviewed journalist Mariella Frostup on equal pay.

However, Gracie did speak earlier this morning about the reaction to her resignation, saying it revealed the "depth of hunger" for "equal, fair and transparent pay".

Thankfully it seems Gracie will be also able to talk about Carrie Gracie on other BBC shows, and appears today on BBC Woman's Hour.

A whole host of BBC broadcasters have shared their support for Gracie.

These include Luse Doucet, Clare Balding, Emily Maitlis and Sarah Montague, according to the BBC.

Meanwhile, a statement from #BBCWomen, a group of 130 broadcasters and producers at the corporation, was circulating.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the BBC said:

A significant number of organisations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.

Alongside that, we have already conducted a independent judge led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed 'no systemic discrimination against women'.

A separate report for on air staff will be published in the not too distant future.

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