Nobody can assemble a random lineup of celebrities on a couch quite like Graham Norton.
With his self-titled talk show – which has been on air for 17 years – the Irish comedian and author has made an art form of extracting truly wild admissions and antics from some of the world’s most famous people.
This year, Aussies will have the chance to witness Norton’s charm firsthand, with the TV host embarking on his first-ever live tour of Australia and New Zealand in March.
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Ahead of the tour, let’s take a look back at just a handful of the many, many memorable celebrity moments from The Graham Norton Show.
Robbie Williams’ lament for his ‘favourite pub’
It’s the offhand comment that got a straight 20 seconds of belly-laughing from Norton – high praise indeed.
During a 2014 appearance on the show, Robbie Williams was asked about the arrival of his daughter Theodora, or ‘Teddy’, and whether he’d attended the birth.
The singer confirmed he had, prompting actress Emma Thompson to ask, “Were you down the business end?”
“Yeah, I was. It was like my favourite pub burning down,” he replied with a wistful smile.
Cue: Thompson grasping Williams’ arm in shock, Norton and fellow guest Jimmy Carr cackling, and the quote going down in viewers’ books as one to remember.
Watch the video at the top of the page.
Tom Hiddleston out-Nortons Norton
Tom Hiddleston is a master of celebrity impersonations, and during a 2015 episode he had the audience in stitches with his renditions of Robert de Niro and Al Pacino.
Then, the Loki star casually mentioned Norton was in his canon of impressions, requesting the host’s cue cards so he could get in character.
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With a deep breath, he unleashed.
Between the Cork accent, the posture and the physical movements, it was uncanny, and even Norton couldn’t hide how impressed he was. Watch here.
Chris O’Dowd vs. an enormous fly
A gag and a gasp announced the unwelcome guest hiding in Chris O’Dowd’s sip of water.
O’Dowd and fellow guests Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig had been distracted by an enormous fly – “That’s the biggest fly I’ve ever seen!” – as it zipped through the studio.
Fast forward to later in the show, and the Irish comedian suddenly sets down his water glass, his hand reaching into his mouth.
When Wiig sees what’s cupped in it, she’s horrified.
“Did you just drink the fly? … Is it alive?” Norton asked, getting up from his chair to inspect the damage.
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O’Dowd’s sickened expression said it all.
”Oh my sweet God … I’ve chewed it. I took a drink and I was like, ‘I didn’t realise I had any ice in here?'” the IT Crowd star said.
The star tipped the dearly departed insect onto the table, before Carrell concealed the body with a daintily-placed tissue, a scene Norton labelled “CSI: Fly.” Watch here.
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Benedict Cumberbatch vs. penguins
He can voice a dragon, deliver an Oscar-nominated performance and impersonate any celebrity at the drop of a hat.
But there’s one thing Benedict Cumberbatch can’t do: say the word ‘penguin’.
In a 2014 appearance, the actor was forced to explain the online fascination with his pronunciation of the word, which had been exposed when he narrated a documentary about the South Pacific.
Of course, Norton had his team dredge up some of the doco to play for the audience. In it, Cumberbatch’s pronunciation oscillates wildly, ranging from “peng-weng” and “penguing” to “peng-ling”.
“The first one you sort of get away with, and then you lose all sense of [the word],” Norton quips. Watch here.
Could Matthew Perry be more speechless?
Miriam Margolyes’ candour is famous, but clearly Matthew Perry hadn’t been briefed on his fellow Graham Norton Show guest before their episode together.
It was 2016, and the late Friends icon was perched beside the English actress as she began telling a story about meeting Laurence Olivier at a theatre’s stage door when she was young.
“He came out, and I remember so distinctly that I started to cream in my knickers. I could feel it,” she casually declared.
The camera cut to a wide shot as Perry turned his head in silent disbelief, a thousand-yard stare on his face. The sight left Norton, Margolyes and the audience in stitches.
“I honestly don’t think I’ve been more uncomfortable,” the actor said.
“I think that’s the worst moment of my life.” Watch here.
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‘How you doin’?’
Emilia Clarke is reliably delightful when she appears on the show, but it’s her encounter with Matt LeBlanc that truly stands out.
The Game of Thrones actress was star-struck to be sat next to LeBlanc on the lounge, to the point she was visibly blushing.
“Emilia Clarke loves Matt LeBla-aaaanc,” Norton teased, not helping matters. “I just think you’re wicked,” Clarke told the Friends star, earning a hug in response.
Later in the show, she got bold, asking: “I have one slight request from you … would you be able to ask me how I’m doing?”
A reluctant LeBlanc obliged, and Clarke practically levitated off the couch in joy. Watch here.
Mark Wahlberg’s drunken disaster
It’s one thing to get rip-roaring drunk, climb onto a mate’s lap and then fall asleep on their lounge, but it’s quite another do all that on TV.
Mark Wahlberg went down in Graham Norton Show infamy in 2013 with an episode the host himself has called “annoying”.
“If [guests are] disruptive, then that is a bore and annoying. Like Mark Wahlberg … at one stage, he climbed on my lap and was, like, pinching my nipples,” Norton later said.
Mercifully, Wahlberg – who claimed the incident was all “pre-planned” – passed out on the couch mid-episode, allowing everyone else to resume business as usual.
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