Candid and deliciously camp, for more than three decades Graham Norton has been a bastion of the small screen.
Since bursting onto the scene with the first incarnation of his now-iconic chat-show format back in 1998, the Irish funnyman has had a literal whoโs who on his couch, from Tinseltown legends and chart-topping musical superstars, to everyone in between.
But, despite being a ratings sensation in Australia, the TV personality hasnโt yet brought his unique brand of humour to our shoresโฆ until now, that is.
In March next year, the cheeky comic will entertain audiences across the country with tales from his decades-long career, sharing celebrity encounters and behind-the-scenes gossip.
DISHING THE DIRT
โThis is not my burning bridges tour!โ he chuckles, talking to Womanโs Day.
โI do want guests to come on the show again. But you know, thereโs talk about some of the people whoโve maybe drunk a little more than they should have and the like, and there will be some backstabbing about people who are now dead, because thatโs how cowardly I am โ yes, Iโll dish on dead celebrities!โ
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In An Evening with Graham Norton, the nine-time BAFTA TV Award winner will embark on his first-ever Australian tour, taking guests on a journey through his 40-year-long career.
โI havenโt done a live show like this since I was in my thirties and Iโm now in my sixties,โ says the star. โSo I kind of thought: โoh, I might as well do something with thisโ plus, I havenโt been to Australia since 1987!โ
FAME & FORTUNE
Along with the celebrity guest highs in the impressive 31 season-long run of The Graham Norton Show, he has also had some celebrity guest lows. But how does he deal with a dud?
โIโm in such a fortunate position because Iโm never alone with them,โ he reveals. โI always have a couch. So even if you have a boring guest, whatโs good is while theyโre being boring, itโs not just me and the audience thinking: โJesus, shut upโ, itโs other people on the couch too. So, if they pause for breath, Iโll throw a little question to one of the more interesting people.โ
Thankfully, when it comes to entertaining guests, Australia usually delivers, says Graham.
โThey never get too grand for it. Even someone like Nicole (Kidman) who has been famous for so long, will still make an effort. She wonโt just sit there and go: โIโm Nicole Kidman, what more do you want?โ Because she could. But she tries, sheโs still interested, she wants to hear the stories from the other guests.โ
While the TV personality has built an entire career trading in the fame game, heโs managed to keep his life off-screen private, which he believes is partly due to finding fame later.
โI was older when I got any kind of success or notoriety,โ he explains. โI was in my mid-thirties. I think when you start with TV, you get invited to showbiz parties, youโre excited and you go, but you only need to go to about two before you realise that these parties are all the same and theyโre not that fun.
โAnd I think, if youโre not going to those parties, then youโre not being photographed and youโre not in the papers and people kind of forget about youโฆthereโs a lot of things you can do to keep your life lowkey.โ
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Though Graham is happy to avoid the spotlight, his marriage to Scottish filmmaker, Jonathan โJonoโ McLeod, in July 2022 made a splash in the worldโs press โ especially as heโd previously said that he never thought heโd tie the knot.
FINDING LOVE
โI suppose that I didnโt have anyone to marry,โ he says. โYou really need someone else to do it! So when I say I was โsurprisedโ I did it, it was because, by the time I was turning 50, it didnโt seem like that was going to happen for me.
โYou know, a lot of my friends had met their long term partners and I hadnโt. I was very happy being single. But then I did find someone and weโd been together for six years, and it happened!โ
While Graham, at the age of 61, says that his defining characteristic now is that heโs โoldโ, his energy and workload rival that of a 20-something.
โI remember when I turned 50, thinking, โitโs all downhill from here,โ but then I started writing novels, so now, if I lived to 80, I will have been writing novels for 30 years. When youโre young, you think you have to hurry up and do everything, but as you get older, itโs nice to realise that you have more time than you thought.โ
Tickets for โAn Evening with Graham Nortonโ are available to purchase now from Ticketek