Graham Norton
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish television and radio presenter, comedian, and actor based in the United Kingdom. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show. Previously shown on BBC Two, it took the prestigious Friday night slot on BBC One from Jonathan Ross in 2010. He also presents on BBC Radio 2 and is the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionTV Show Host
Date of Birth4 April 1963
CityClondalkin, Ireland
CountryIreland
I spent a long time working in restaurants and making no money. It was very character-building, but I think it could have been built in a shorter time.
Being asked to host the BAFTA awards is a huge thrill, not to mention a lot easier than sitting in the audience pretending to be pleased for the winners.
We supply wine to all the guests - but most of the guests don't bring the wine on. But I drink wine before the show. Everyone does.
On meeting Victoria and David Beckham: Victoria pointed to her necklace and said '?1.5 million'. David introduced himself. I was staring at his wife's tits and shouting 'how much?!
My ambition was to stop waiting tables. That was how I measured success: finally, I was able to stop waiting tables, and I was able to pay the rent, and that was by being a stand-up comic. Not a very good stand-up comic, but good enough to make a living.
To be nominated for this is really huge because like it's the globe, it's the world television.
The BBC will always be attacked by whoever is in government. It is that George Bush thing of 'If you're not with us you are against us.'
It's amazing how I can just ramble on for hours, isn't it? And so unentertaining or uninteresting. But I can ramble on for hours. It's a sort of terrible gift, isn't it?
The people I want are very famous and very rich, and all I can offer them is a bit of exposure on TV and a bit of cash, so it's a miracle we get any guests at all. But we have been very lucky.
If you'd told the young Graham Norton that I'd one day have this amount of money, I'd have assumed it would have come from a lottery win.
My version of falling in love is borderline psychotic. Should be avoided at all costs. Get obsessed. Can't fall in love and function at the same time. All-consuming. Tunnel vision. Euphoric.'
It's lovely to get one successful show - the chances of finding a second one are not so hot.
Occasionally the state of the planet can knock me off my perky perch.
My life could have been so grim really, really grim.