I don’t feel old! Graham Norton reveals why he’ll never go under the knife
Graham Norton tells Woman’s Own how he still feels youthful at 55 and why he’ll never go under the knife
Friday nights are worth staying in for again, now that Graham Norton has returned to his famous swivel chair. The host of BBC1’S The Graham Norton Show is back bantering with A-listers and inviting intrepid viewers to tell their funny stories. Here, he tells us about tipsy stars, why he won’t have plastic surgery and why he never blocks Twitter trolls…
How excited are you to be back hosting the nation’s favourite chat show? thinking i’ve done a chat show in one form or another for 21 years hurts my head. But i don’t feel old. i still like coming back and the BBC, touch wood, still wants me to do the show.
You’re 55. Have you been through a midlife crisis? i found 50 quite good, with a job, a house and a life i liked. sixty i’m not looking forward to. at 60, you can’t pretend. sixty is old, it’s, ‘We’re back after the interval and it’s the beginning of act three.’
You’ve said no to Botox and cosmetic surgery. Are you happy with how you’re ageing? i see my face on telly and i like the way i look. But it’s when you do Face time or skype and you see yourself on the computer, you go, ‘F**k, is that what i look like?!’ i think that’s your actual face, so in fact i think i look awful, but it’s too late to do anything about it.
Do you watch yourself back on The Graham Norton Show? i do because i should, but it’s often embarrassing because i’m reminded of something i said or did wrong. When channing tatum insisted on doing a slow dance with me last series, it was just hot-making and awful. But because we ask guests to do so much, when i’m asked i think i ought to. saying that, if i were a guest on my show i would say, ‘No way, i’m not doing anything!’ Mark Wahlberg famously got drunk on your show in 2013. Has anyone else? of course! Last series there was one actress who probably hadn’t eaten since 1997 and because she was nervous, her team said, ‘have a drink.’ it hit her quite hard and although she was fun, she was a little too chatty on the sofa.
You’re on Instagram and Twitter, but how do you deal with the inevitable trolls? i never block trolls on twitter. my mother told me never to react to bullies – they want you to fight back or cry, and if you don’t, they’ll leave you alone.
In the past you’ve said you’ll retire from your chat show before you turn 60… actually, i thought i’d retire at 50, but i fear boredom. i’ve got friends who don’t work and they don’t seem happy. so i think i’ll carry on.
The Graham Norton Show starts on Friday on BBC1. Graham’s novel A Keeper (Hodder & Stoughton, £20) is out on 4 October.
‘i’ll never retire – i fear boredom!’