56 Facts About Graham Norton

From 2010 to 2020, Norton presented the Saturday-morning slot on BBC Radio 2.

Graham Norton has been noted for his innuendo-laden dialogue and flamboyant presentation style.

Graham Norton grew up in a Protestant family in the town of Bandon, County Cork, which he has said made him feel somewhat isolated.

Graham Norton's father's family were from County Wicklow, while his mother is a native of Belfast.

Graham Norton was educated at Bandon Grammar School in County Cork and then University College Cork, where he spent two years studying English and French in the 1980s, but did not complete his studies after having a breakdown and refusing to leave his flat.

Graham Norton later received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2013.

Graham Norton was one of the early successes of Channel 5, winning an award as stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty.

In 1996, Graham Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes of the Channel 4 series Father Ted, which was set on the fictional Craggy Island off the west coast of Ireland.

Also in 2003, Graham Norton was listed in The Observer as one of the 1,000 funniest acts in British comedy.

The Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was broadcast in the UK on BBC Three.

Graham Norton began his career on the BBC in 2001 when he hosted Comic Relief 2001.

Graham Norton read stories some nights on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of Bedtime Hour.

Since 2007, Graham Norton has been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards.

Norton's chat show, The Graham Norton Show, began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two.

In May 2010, Graham Norton stood in for Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2.

In February 2019, it was announced that Graham Norton would be a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK alongside Alan Carr in a rotating basis.

Since 1999, Graham Norton has appeared regularly on the BBC Radio 4 panel show Just a Minute, appearing in over 100 episodes.

On 2 October 2010, Graham Norton began presenting a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2, which he took over from Jonathan Ross.

Unlike Steve Wright in the Afternoon aired from 14:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, it is well established as being a "brand", with its end of each hour style of presentations, although Graham Norton regularly uses the standard BBC Radio 2 jingles along with jingles unique to the Saturday morning show, written and performed by the BBC Radio 2 Orchestra.

In January 2012, Graham Norton asked listeners to his Radio 2 show to help find his car, shortly after it was stolen.

On 11 November 2020, Graham Norton announced that he would step down from the show and hosted his final Saturday morning show on 19 December 2020 after 10 years.

Graham Norton was replaced by Claudia Winkleman from February 2021.

Graham Norton confirmed in November 2020 that he would join Virgin Radio UK in 2021 to host shows on Saturday and Sunday.

In October 2008, it was confirmed by the BBC that Graham Norton would replace Terry Wogan as the presenter of the UK national selection of the Eurovision Song Contest, Your Country Needs You.

On 5 December 2008, it was announced that Graham Norton would take over from Wogan as the British commentator for the main Eurovision Song Contest.

In January 2009, Graham Norton hosted Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, a talent show to find who would represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest that year.

Graham Norton played a fictionalized version of himself in his role of the British Eurovision commentator in the 2020 Netflix film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Graham Norton co-hosted the final of the 2023 contest in Liverpool alongside Alesha Dixon, actress Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, in addition to his usual commentary role which was shared with Mel Giedroyc.

Graham Norton played Mr Puckov in the 2006 American comedy spoof film Another Gay Movie.

In 2007, Graham Norton played Taylor in the romantic comedy film, I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Graham Norton was involved in a high-publicity advertising campaign for the UK National Lottery as an animated unicorn, the stooge to a character based on Lady Luck.

In 1999, Graham Norton featured in the music video for Boyzone song "When The Going Gets Tough".

In January 2009, Graham Norton made his West End stage debut in a revival of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre.

In 2009, Graham Norton was the host of the comedy game-show Most Popular on US cable television channel WE tv.

Graham Norton wrote an advice column in The Daily Telegraph newspaper from 2006 to 2018.

In October 2010, his columns were made into a book entitled Ask Graham Norton, published by John Blake Publishing.

In late 2018, Graham Norton stood down from the role and the newspaper found a replacement as their agony aunt in Richard Madeley.

Graham Norton won Popular Fiction Book of the Year award for Holding in the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards 2016.

In 2014, Graham Norton criticised the decision by Irish broadcaster RTE to settle out of court with opponents of gay marriage who claimed they had been defamed in an edition of the Saturday Night Show.

In 2014, Graham Norton publicly backed "Hacked Off" and its campaign toward UK press self-regulation by "safeguarding the press from political interference while giving vital protection to the vulnerable".

In October 2014, Graham Norton released his second memoir, The Life and Loves of a He-Devil.

Graham Norton has a shareholding of two per cent in New Zealand winery Invivo Wines.

Graham Norton has his own wine range in collaboration with Invivo, the first wine was first released in 2014.

In July 2015, the Bishop of Cork, Paul Colton, hosted an evening with Graham Norton involving 90 minutes of interview, questions, and answers with an audience of more than 400 people.

In 1989, Graham Norton was mugged, beaten up, and stabbed by a group of attackers in London.

Graham Norton lost half of his blood and nearly died.

Graham Norton said that an elderly couple were the ones who found him and that they "saved his life" after calling for an ambulance.

Graham Norton did not think the attack was homophobic, as he was walking alone at the time.

Graham Norton was hospitalised for two-and-a-half weeks before eventually recovering from the attack.

Graham Norton appealed for the return of his car during his BBC Radio 2 show the following day.

Graham Norton owns an apartment in New York City and a holiday home in Ahakista, County Cork.

Graham Norton had two dogs, a labradoodle called Bailey and a terrier called Madge, which he adopted from the UK charity Dogs Trust in 2012.

Graham Norton dated Kristian Seeber, who performs as the drag queen Tina Burner.

Graham Norton said in 2015 that his ex-boyfriends often resented the role they had to play in the public eye as his partner.

On 10 July 2022, Graham Norton held a wedding blessing party, with his new husband Jonathan McLeod, at Bantry House in County Cork.

In October 2022, Graham Norton deactivated his Twitter account following criticism from JK Rowling and supporters after he had replied to an interview question on transgender rights that it would be better to "talk to trans people, talk to the parents of trans kids, talk to doctors" than to celebrities like himself.