Graham Norton's Biography

His father was a Guinness rep and his mother worked for the local Mothers' Union.

Graham Norton spent a year in a commune in San Francisco, before coming to England to study at the Central School of Drama in London.

From 1992 to 1997 Graham Norton had critical success as a stand-up comedian and he was nominated for the prestigious Perrier award in 1997.

He also played Father Noel Furlong in Channel 4's comedy Father Ted.

Graham Norton stood in as host of the Jack Docherty Show, and because of his growing reputation (he was voted Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards) Channel 4 signed him in 1998 to present his own show, So Graham Norton

Norton's brand of camp and outrageous comedy appealed to audiences and critics alike and the show and its spin-offs gained BAFTAs and British Comedy Awards, and an International Emmy.

The Graham Norton Effect was broadcast in the States and Graham Norton was poached by the BBC at the end of 2003.

Norton's shows on the BBC have included the talk show The Bigger Picture and the Strictly Come Dancing spin-off show Strictly Dance Fever.

Graham Norton also presented BBC's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, and following its success, Andrew Lloyd Webber told The Radio Times: "I loved the television work with Graham."

He was also chosen to be the presenter of the BBC's Any Dream Will Do, which looks for a 'Joseph'.

Graham Norton has written an autobiography, So Me.

His other credits include Carnal Knowledge, Bring Me The Head of Light Entertainment, Graham Goes to Hollywood, V Graham Norton and being on the panel of Radio 4's Just A Minute.

In 2006 Graham Norton broke up with his boyfriend Kristian Seeber, a New Yorker. Norton told the Mirror in September 2006:

"My love life is non-existent at the moment. It's just me and my dog [Bailey]"

In February 2007, Graham Norton started presenting a new Saturday night talent show on BBC1, When Will I Be Famous?

In 2008 more BBC entertainment shows featured Graham Norton as presenter including The One And Only - a search for the UK's best tribute band - and a series searching for the stars of Oliver.

In November 2008, the BBC published an article about Graham Norton appearing as drag artist Zaza in the West End musical La Cage aux Folles from 19 January to 25 April 2009.

In December 2008, it was announced that Graham Norton was replacing Sir Terry Wogan on the Eurovision Song Contest.

In April 2009, Graham Norton broke two ribs after falling down his stairs, after returning home from hosting the Bafta TV Awards.

In February 2010, the BBC announced that Graham Norton would host BBC One's Over The Rainbow, featuring the search for the best Dorothy for a new stage production of The Wizard of Oz.

In August 2010, the BBC revealed that Graham Norton's chat show would replace Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

In 2016, The Guardian reported that Graham Norton was paid more than £2.5m in fees and salary in the previous year.

In June 2016, the BBC announced that Graham Norton would co-present with Mel Giedroyc, a Saturday night entertainment show Let It Shine.

In October 2016, his first novel, Holding, was published. Soon after, he wrote A Keeper, which was shortlisted for the National Book Awards.

In July 2017, the BBC revealed that Graham Norton earned over £850,000 from licence fee revenue in their financial year 2016/7.

In February 2019, it was announced that Graeme Norton and Alan Carr would be the celebrity judges on RuPaul's Drag Race UK on BBC Three.

In April 2019, it was revealed that he was taking over from Sue Perkins as the host at the Baftas.

In September 2020, the BBC revealed that Graham Norton was their third highest paid presenter, earning around £750,000 a year.

However, a few months later it was reported that Graham Norton would leave his Saturday morning show on Radio 2 before the end of 2020.

He left his show on Radio 2 and moved to Virgin Radio, but carried on hosting his BBC One chat show.

In February 2024, he announced that he was leaving his Virgin Radio weekend show.

In September 2024, ITV announced that Wheel of Fortune would be back for a second series with Graham as host.