Chat Show King spills the beans

London-based Irish TV host Graham Norton is nicknamed Chat Show King for good reason.

With his easy-going and ebullient manner, he often manages to get even the most reserved and difficult of celebrities to open up and talk on his hit British programme, The Graham Norton Show.

Famously reticent stars such as Australian actor Russell Crowe and James Bond actor Daniel Craig have appeared completely chatty and relaxed on his show, often volunteering information on their own.

Yet, in a telephone interview with Life!, the amiable 50-year-old readily confesses to be "a terrible interviewer".

Speaking from his home in Dublin, Ireland, he says seriously: "I just love to chat, really. I'm not a good interviewer because I'm not the type to keep going at them to get something out of them.

"I know that there are just some things that they'll never tell you or anyone else. It's not like I'm going to get a situation where I have someone like O.J. Simpson who suddenly says, 'Yes, I did kill her'. So I've accepted that in the end, they're just going to tell you what they want to tell you and that's fine."

The show, already into its 14th season, features big-name celebrities from all walks of life, including movies, music and sports. Actors such as Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise have appeared on the show, as has musician Paul McCartney.

One of the features that makes his talk-show format unique is that each episode features several celebrity guests on the same couch, in the same interview session. Very rarely do guests get time to talk on the couch all on their own.

The host, who is single, says: "The thing is, I'm more interested in just chatting with them and just seeing how the celebrity guests interact with one another. It's fine if they don't tell me anything that they don't want to tell me because watching them interact is more interesting to me."

Another segment in his show that is popular with viewers is the Red Chair, where members of the public sit to tell a story. If Norton or any of the other celebrity guests deem the stories too dull, they pull a lever and the storyteller is flipped upside down.

He says with a laugh that if he were to be in the chair himself, he would "probably not last very long".

"Starting stories is quite hard. You need to have a good set-up, otherwise people get bored. So, very happily, I'm not the one sitting in it. I just pull the lever." Norton started out in the early 1990s in stand-up comedy, before moving to do comedy spots and hosting late night TV shows, such as quiz programme Bring Me The Head Of Light Entertainment (1997 to 2000).

He then hosted his own chat shows So Graham Norton (1998 to 2002) and V Graham Norton (2002 to 2003), before the current The Graham Norton Show, which draws more than 4 million viewers an episode in the UK alone. He says: "I've exceeded what I ever want to do. I feel content with the set-up I have."

1 - You often poke fun at your guests. What do you do if you happen to offend someone?

If they're offended, I'll just apologise. I don't want to offend anybody. And if Ithought I was going to offend them, I wouldn't have said it in the first place.

Sometimes, they just misunderstand. Or you do a joke about somebody and discover that that person is really good friends with your guest. But normally, I'm not so brave, so I'll just abandon the topic if I see that they're uncomfortable. Unless you say you don't want to talk about anything, then I'll be slightly at a loss as to why you come to a chat show at all.

2 - Have there been any instances where celebrity guests refuse to share the couch with someone?

Occasionally, there will be a bit of bargaining. We allowed Madonna to be on by herself for a little bit before we invited the others in. But no, they're fine. They realise that it's actually more fun with other people there with them. They can talk to the others, rather than just me, and they enjoy that, I think.

3 - The Red Chair segment in your show is a hit, but do you ever feel sorry for the people when you flip them over?

Occasionally, I do. I mean, it is quite cruel. But we've been doing it long enough so they come on to the show knowing what to expect. If you're a delicate flower, then you shouldn't get in the red chair.

4 - For years, you have said you are eager for pop star Madonna to come on the show and she finally did in January last year. Which other celebrities are you now hoping will appear on the show?

For the longest time, my stock answer has always been Madonna, and I think I now need a new answer to that question. We've been lucky with guests though, that's for sure. But I guess, there are still a few really big stars who have yet to come on the show, like George Clooney and Angelina Jolie.

5 - You went to the United States for one year in 2004 and filmed comedy talk show The Graham Norton Effect there. What made you go back to Britain the following year?

My staff and I love going to America. When we have breaks, we go to Los Angeles and New York. But we didn't enjoy working there.

It was a culture shock mostly because it felt like we were doing a new show all over again. Being an established show in the UK and then going there was just very different. Also, in the UK, we're left alone by the network. But over there, you have executives crawling all over your show and giving advice on every little thing, and we were just not used to it.

6 - You are so well known in Britain. What happens when you walk down the streets there?

Sometimes nothing, and sometimes people will come up to me. It's very weird. You can go from not feeling very famous to feeling like Princess Diana.

At the moment, I'm at home in Ireland, alone sitting against a blank wall. But when I go back to London and see people, they will call out my name. And I don't know why, but they always seem surprised to see you. I am lucky - I should touch wood now - but 99.9 per cent of the people are really friendly and they just want to say hello.

7 - Millions of viewers tune in to your show, but what do you watch on TV?

I'm playing catch-up at the moment. I finished all of Damages (2007 to 2012) only recently, and I'm coming to the end of House Of Cards (2013). And I'm only halfway through Dexter, so you see how up to date I am. But I always do this. I like to get all the box sets when the series is over and finish it in one go. I'm not scared of spoilers because if I happen to read about something happening to a character, I won't even know who they're talking about. That's how far behind the shows I am.

8 - How would you like to be remembered?

Honestly, I don't think I will be remembered. Television is a transient medium. Already, you'll be reading a book and finding out about some guy who had a show in the 1960s that was watched by 20 million people, but I won't know who he is and have never heard of him. I love television and I really enjoy it, but it's really disposable and that's just how it's supposed to be.

yipwy@sph.com.sg

The Graham Norton Show Season 14 premieres on BBC Entertainment (StarHub TV Channel 521) on Oct 26 at 10pm.

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