No TV but Keira is hounded to pay her licence: Actress reveals collectors demanded money despite not having a set for years

Hollywood star, 28, says she didn't get TV because of her hectic schedule

She was hounded by collectors despite not having one



Hollywood star, 28, finally gave in and got TV to watch football

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Football fan: Miss Knightley says she only relented and got a TV for the football

She has wealth, beauty and fame that most people could only dream of.

But there is one thing that Keira Knightley shares with many of her fans – a hearty dislike of the BBC licence fee.

The actress has complained she was ‘hounded’ by collectors despite not owning a TV for years, and admits she is one of the many young people who has used iPlayer to watch BBC shows for free.

Miss Knightley, 28, said the only reason she eventually decided to buy a television set and stump up the £145.50 annual charge was so she could watch live football rather than rely on catch-up episodes of Match Of The Day on her computer.

She told the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine: ‘Football is basically the reason I got a television. I didn’t have one before, because I didn’t know where I was going to be, so there was no point.

‘And I got hounded by the TV licence people. I’m like, “I don’t have a f****** TV licence because I don’t have a TV! Please come in and see that I don’t have one!”

‘But now I have one because it was getting ridiculous watching football on the laptop.’

Miss Knightley is one of around 500,000 people who has exploited a loophole that allows viewers to watch catch-up TV free of charge.

Last month, the BBC’s director general Tony Hall announced he will crack down on the practice by extending the licence fee to cover the iPlayer.

But at present it only applies to those who watch BBC shows as they are broadcast, meaning many younger viewers without TV sets are able to avoid paying by waiting and watching their favourite shows on the internet.

'Amazing': The actress also spoke of her admiration for TV pundit Gary Neville

As iPlayer becomes increasingly popular, with more than 240million hits a month, insiders fear increasing numbers of younger viewers will stop paying the licence fee altogether.

Miss Knightley is not the first viewer to complain about the tactics of the BBC’s army of licence fee collectors.

Last year, the Mail revealed they are paid bonuses for every successful prosecution for non-payment, meaning they have an incentive to hound viewers they suspect of evading the fee.

It has led prosecutions for nine payment to soar, with licence fee prosecutions now accounting for one in nine of all magistrates court cases .

Miss Knightley’s love of football might surprise fans who only know her from costume dramas such as Anna Karenina and Pride & Prejudice.

But given she first found fame in 2002 hit Bend It Like Beckham – in which she played a football-mad schoolgirl – the hobby is perhaps unsurprising.

Miss Knightley added she is also a fan of cookery show MasterChef, admitting the emotional tension makes her cry

Despite her enthusiasm for BBC football shows, the star – who married Klaxons musician James Righton last year - revealed her favourite pundit is former England player Gary Neville, who regularly appears on Sky Sports.

She said: ‘He is just f****** amazing. Absolutely f****** amazing. His commentary...Well, it’s just amazing. He’s amazing.

‘They’ve added loads of other [pundits] alongside him now, but I preferred it when it was pure Gary Neville.’