Graham Norton has revealed some celebrity guests arrive ‘pre-liquored’ before being interviewed on his talk show.
The Graham Norton Show first hit screens in 2007 and although originally only set to run for 13 episodes, it proved such a hit it kept being extended.
Over the years it’s produced countless hilarious moments, including some involving tipsy guests.
Now Graham has spoken about celebrities arriving on set a few drinks deep to settle their nerves, or just with the intention of having some fun.
‘A lot of people think we try to get our guests drunk and we really don’t,’ he said.
‘There is a drink waiting for them out there if they want it, but the most you can really have is two or three drinks, tops.
‘If you want to be drunk – and clearly some people do – you’ve got to arrive pre-liquored,’ he added when speaking to News.com.au.
Recalling a particularly memorable appearance by Mickey Rourke, who sat on the red couch in 2008 alongside Jessica Biel and Martha Wainwright, Graham said it was ‘hard work’ to keep things on track.
‘I remember Mickey Rourke [was a guest]. I just happened to be standing there when he got out of the car, and he was holding a bottle of Jack Daniels, which is already worrying,’ he explained.
‘But then we noticed the bottle of Jack Daniels was half-empty. It soon became very clear where that Jack Daniels had gone.
‘Those nights are quite hard work where you’re just trying to keep it together and get to the finishing line.’
Last year the show’s long-time producer Graham Stuart also spoke to Metro about some other guests who were notably under the influence on air.
In 2013 Mark Wahlberg’s drunken antics saw him sitting on Norton’s lap and pinching his nipples, repeatedly cutting off fellow guest Sarah Silverman and challenging Michael Fassbender to a ‘big d*** contest’ and even appearing to fall asleep on the couch.
Reflecting on what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, Stuart said the actor knew that ‘whatever happened we would make sure what went out was good and fair and honest’ and ‘that’s exactly what went out’.
Although Stuart said they would never want to push someone on air if they were too inebriated, a 2014 episode where Matt Damon, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville arrived on set after the premiere of their movie Monuments Men also made for brilliant TV.
‘I don’t think it’s telling tales to say that they arrived with a case of champagne from the film premiere and that case had been used and they were in a good mood…’ he laughed.
‘That was classic television.’
However, he added they’d ‘never been in a situation where we thought we can’t put that show out’.
The Graham Norton Show continues on Friday at 10.40pm on BBC One.
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