Jonathan Ross has suggested Graham Norton gets “bigger” chat show guests than he does because he is more willing to compromise with Hollywood stars’ demands.
The presenter used to host a series in Norton’s slot, starting in 2001, but he jumped to ITV after being dropped by the BBC in 2010.
Since then, The Graham Norton Show, which premiered on BBC Two in 2007, has gone from strength to strength, becoming a favourite stop-off for the most globally recognisable faces, including Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford – and even earning him an invite to Taylor Swift’s wedding.
Ross, whose ITV chat show has aired on Saturday nights since 2011, has expressed confusion over why Norton books all the A-listers from overseas while his sofa is typically filled with British talent.
“He gets American names – and I am not quite sure why that is,” he told The Times when asked if Norton gets more famous guests.
“I think they have a better relationship with the studios, and by ‘better’, I mean more conciliatory.”
However, the presenter, who appeared on BBC’s Celebrity Traitors in 2025, said he doesn’t think his show “is any weaker“ because of the lower calibre of celebrity guests.
“We put a lot of thought into the mix of people we get on. I try not to have all actors. I try not to have all comedians. I try to have a variety of ages and, obviously, sexes.”
He also acknowledged that Norton’s overnight viewing figures are “slightly better”, but said “on catch-up, we are about the same”.
Ross continued: “Last week, for example, our show beat the BBC until the news came on. So it’s a healthy show. I don’t think his figures are much better than mine.” The Independent has contacted the BBC and Norton for comment.
Norton presented his first chat show, So Graham Norton, on Channel 4 from 1998 to 2003. Two years later, he began hosting a myriad of shows for the BBC, including several Andrew Lloyd Webber reality shows searching for new leads for West End productions.
The success of these led to Norton being given his own 30-minute chat show on BBC Two in 2007, which was promoted to an hour-long slot on BBC One in 2009.
In 2025, Norton’s show, now onto its 33rd series and averaging 2.9 million viewers per episode, was renewed for another three runs, ensuring the host would remain on the air until at least 2028.
At its height, Ross’s former BBC show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross averaged 3.1 million weekly viewers. The show, which ended permanently in 2010, was initially pulled in 2008 after the presenter and Russell Brand prank-called Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs during Brand’s BBC Radio 2 show.
The pair made several calls to Sachs, and Brand left a voice message saying he’d had sex with Sachs’s granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. They were both suspended by the BBC without pay and, while it was reported he decided against a new contract with the corporation, he has since said he “got kicked out”.
At the time, Ross said: "I am deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks on the Russell Brand show have caused.
“I have not issued a statement previously because it was my intention and desire to offer an apology to all those offended on my Friday night programme. However, it was a stupid error of judgement on my part, and I offer a full apology."
In the new interview, Ross said he didn’t want to talk about the subject as he “wants to avoid the issue” as “it has an impact on the lives of those who should never have been dragged into something like that in the first place”.
At its height, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross averaged 3.1 million weekly viewers.
In March, Traitors and former Strictly host Claudia Winkleman will launch her own Friday night show on the BBC.
Clarifying where his show fits in this new landscape, Norton told ITV morning show Lorraine: “When I finish at the end of February, I used to come back and do kind of April, May series, so I stopped doing that a few years ago and this idea came up that Claudia could come and do it."
He continued: "It's a very kind of stand alone show. She stood in for me last year and she had an amazing job. I thought she was very Claudia and this is going to be even more Claudia because, you know, it's her own set, her own everything."
Gregg Wallace drops damages claim against the BBC over ‘distress and harassment’
Beloved BBC sitcom might be coming back from the dead
Acclaimed BBC drama to return for surprise new series after nearly 10 years
The Office producer says there are scenes that he ‘wouldn’t do now’
Inbetweeners star issues plea about jokes featured in new reboot series
Grey’s Anatomy pays tribute to Eric Dane with emotional montage
