What who is graham norton? Right now he is the most popular interviewer with the British and American public and The Graham Norton Showit is broadcast in many countries.
The Cosmopolitan channel brings it back to Spain and will premiere the new installments from next day 19, from Friday to Sunday, after the prime time film. The BBC program delves into the personal side of the famous through complicity with this Irishman. It has been broadcast since 2007. With the confinement this space was reduced to a shortened version with the presenter from his home in London chatting with the guests through Zoom.
In season 28, which will now air on Cosmo, it was re-recorded on the set of the British public. Through the Internet, Graham Norton serves this website.
–Your program is distinguished by the red sofa that has inspired other programs in Spain. Does it return with the distances that the pendemic forces?
–It is a pity that the sofa is not going to be, because it is very cozy and the guests are comfortable on it. It is being a different season, but no less entertaining for that. Social distancing measures mean that guests cannot do their usual greetings, kisses. Our study has been prepared.
“Are your guests on the set?”
–We regain a certain normality, but logically there will be guests who will be present and others who will participate through videoconference. We all already know that it is very difficult to travel due to the pandemic so it is understood that celebrities, for this or any other reason, prefer to participate from their homes.
– How did you handle the confinement?
-Bored. I was cutting my hair myself and it was terrible. Showering every day started to become very exciting. It’s amazing how slowly time goes by when you’re confined, how slow. But I felt like a lucky person. I continued working with the television program from my home and on Saturdays I would cycle to the BBC to prepare the radio program. I also took the opportunity to finish my new novel. I made a few schedules and that helped. It was helpful.
“The day before the March lockdown they brought all the cameras and equipment. Everything seemed to be ready. We thought it would be easy to do the program remotely and it was very difficult.”
– How were your personal relationships?
– I spoke a lot on the phone and with the omnipresent videoconferences. And I talked to friends who weren’t as lucky as me and lost their jobs. Confinement was more difficult for them.
– How were they organized?
–Once the BBC gave the go-ahead to all the changes at first we thought we would do the program in the studio without an audiencev but as the health crisis became more serious we realized that we would have to present it from home. I was very satisfied with the result and the whole team was able to keep their jobs.
– How do you present a stellar program from home?–The day before the March confinement they brought all the cameras and equipment. Everything seemed to be ready. We thought it would be easy to do the program remotely, but it was very difficult. In the first program it took seven or eight hours to get it ready instead of the usual hour and a half. It became more bearable with the weeks.
–The public is your ‘secret ingredient’. How did you solve it?
– The public is a fundamental part of this program and I am proud that the spectators want to attend. They are an important part of our success. I missed them a lot, but we also found a fun way to do the interviews via Zoom: the best guests were those who didn’t mind showing us their houses, so we got to see how they live and that made up for at least a little lack of public.
– What would be your greatest lesson received in these months?
“Well, honestly, the most important lesson was to realize that I am not as famous as I thought.” And also that maybe I don’t need to live in London to be happy. Maybe it has to do with my age, but I have not missed the things that people live in the center for: theaters, bars, museums … I am very lucky since I live in a large house with a garden, like this that I have not had a bad time.
– What anticipates us of the programs that have now been produced from the set?
–Thanks to the fact that we have a very large study, we have been able to have an audience while maintaining social distance. Of course, it has been very difficult for the great Hollywood actors to be present and we have had to return to videoconferencing, but there are live musical performances.
“I never, ever personally ask a celebrity to come. We have very skilled people who take care of that job.”
-Remember names that we can see now in Spain.
–Mantenemos el nivel: George Clooney, Viola Davis, Tom Hanks, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Rebel Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris, Sam Neill…
– Do you personally ask them to go to your program?
-Never again. We have very trained people who take care of that work. I prefer not to get involved. Sometimes I receive emails from someone who would like to come and forward it to colleagues.
– Do you speak with the guests after the program?
–Guests wait in their dressing room or in a green room. If I know them or they are friends, I enter the room sooner or later. But to be honest, when the show ends I’m usually the first to go. My excuse is that I have to get home to be with my dog. Celebrities are surprised that I want to be with my pet sooner than with them.
“Those who stay afterwards in the green room are usually very young British guests who stay longer … because they have free drinks.”
– Who stays in the room?
–They tend to be very young British guests who stay longer … because they have free drinks. I cannot give names.
– Are politicians banned?
– My opinion is that if a politician wants to appear on TV it should be in a news program, in which journalists ask him about his management. It’s not what I do.
– Who would you like to interview?– The Obamas would be good. But it is Michelle that I would like to interview. Barbra Streisand has never been. I do not lose the hope.
