Back in the flesh
Graham Norton is back in the television centre as his new show returns to Three this week, but viewers can expect a slightly different type of experience. The famous red sofa is replaced by chairs and the smaller-than-usual audience will be following social-distancing rules. In a Zoom chat with TV Guide, he reflects on being home alone during Britain’s Covid lockdown and what he learned about himself.
How was lockdown for you, Graham?
I’ve been hacking at my own hair. From behind it looks terrible, but for telly purposes I had to maintain the bit in the front. But I was one of the lucky people in that I got to work throughout lockdown. I was doing the TV show at home and on Saturday I would cycle to the BBC and do my radio show, and I was finishing a novel, so I was busy.
What was it like to make The Graham Norton Show alone from your house?
The day before the big lockdown in March I got all the cameras and equipment delivered to my house and they were all set up. We were like, ‘Oh, this’ll be so easy’. And yet it was so hard. The first show took seven or eight hours to make, as opposed to about an hour and a half in the studio. It did get easier over the weeks.
How did you cope without a studio audience?
They’re a very important part of the show and I really missed them. But by the end I think we found a fun way of doing the Zoom interviews. The best guests were the ones who were generous with showing their homes, so we got a look around.
What is the biggest lesson you learned about yourself during lockdown?
Realising that I’m not as social as I thought I was. And also, that maybe I don’t need to live in London. Maybe it’s to do with my age, but I haven’t missed
those things you live in London for. Of course, I’m one of those people talking about lockdown who lives in a very nice house, so if I get bored in one room, I can go sit in another. I’m not in a bedsit without a garden, so it’s been easier for me.
How did you feel about the virtual red chair during lockdown?
I found it very hard to ‘flip’ them – even virtually – because they were in their homes. I felt more like, ‘I can’t be horrible to you’. In the studio they’re just comedy fodder being fed into a sausage machine. On the upside, I let the stories run and they told better stories.
Do you ever personally ask famous people to come on your show?
Never, ever, ever. It’s best to let the celebrity bookers do that. That’s somebody’s job and me not getting involved avoids any awkwardness.
In normal times do you hang out with guests after the show?
If I’ve got friends or guests in the green room, I’ll go in. Celebrities tend to hang out in their dressing rooms or in a separate VIP green room. Sometimes I’ll go in there but, to be honest, usually I’m the first to leave. My excuse is that I’ve got to get home to my dog, which I think is an acceptable answer. But sometimes I’ll see a look in the celebrity’s eye where they’ll go, ‘You’re choosing your dog over me’.
Which celebrities tend to hang out in the green room?
It tends to be younger British guests who hang around the longest in the green room. They’re still impressed by a free drink. Of course, I can’t name names.
We’ve heard you tend to veto politicians as guests. Why is that?
My feeling is that if a serving politician or Member of Parliament is going to appear on TV it should be a programme where they’re going to get grilled about what they’re doing, which isn’t what I do. To come on our show I’d think, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be running the country? How do you have time to come on the sofa and swap lolz with Ryan Reynolds?’.
“Maybe it’s to do with my age, but I haven’t missed those things you live in London for.” – Graham Norton
Who’s your most longed-for guest?
The Obamas would be good – Michelle Obama is really the one to get. I’ve never had Barbra Streisand on. What I like about her is that she takes no s**t. She’s very secure. And our set suits her good (left) side so she could sit on our sofa and look at me and that would work.
Why do we need The Graham Norton Show back this year more than any other?
Because it’ll still be 2020 and I think people are looking for the familiar. I think, hopefully, people will be happy to see a more recognisable version of shows back on their screens and getting a feeling that life is returning to some sort of normality. I hope we can provide some of that.