Sofia Vergara holds on to highest-paid TV actress crown

Modern Family star Sofia Vergara has maintained her title as the highest-paid actress on TV for the sixth year running.

The Colombian beauty tops the annual Forbes magazine poll with an estimated $41.5 million in pre-tax earnings for the year since 1 June, 2016, thanks to her multiple licensing and endorsement deals with companies like CoverGirl, Head & Shoulders, and Pepsi.

Interestingly, only a quarter of her income is from her work as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on hit TV comedy Modern Family, which has earned her multiple Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations since the show's launch in 2009.

Sofia easily tops the new list ahead of Kaley Cuoco, who places second with $26 million . The bulk of her earnings come from her popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, for which she is paid $1 million per episode.

Pregnant The Mindy Project star Mindy Kaling and Grey's Anatomy's Ellen Pompeo tie for number three with $13 million each, while Mariska Hargitay, of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit fame, rounds out the top five with $12.5 million .

Also landing mentions in the top 10 are Sofia's Modern Family co-star Julie Bowen, Scandal's Kerry Washington, Quantico actress Priyanka Chopra, Robin Wright from House of Cards, and NCIS' Pauley Perrette.

Collectively, the 10 highest-paid television actresses of 2017 banked $156.5 million .

The news emerges weeks after Oscar winner Emma Stone was crowned the highest-paid movie actress in another Forbes ranking, with an income of $26 million .