Irish TV legend Graham Norton has opened up about his most challenging celebrity guests over 30 years of hosting, naming Mark Wahlberg among others as his worst ever interviews
Graham Norton has named his worst ever celebrity guest(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/So Television/PA Media/Matt Crossick)
TV presenters are used to chatting with people from every background imaginable, but it’s safe to say some guests prove more pleasant than others. While numerous celebrities are utterly charming, encountering ‘diva’ antics from stars who complicate matters isn’t unusual.
Considering Graham Norton has spent three decades as a television presenter, having made his breakthrough in 1996, he’s encountered and spoken with an extraordinary number of famous faces during his time in the spotlight.
As the broadcaster nears his 63rd birthday on Saturday (April 4), we’re examining which celebrities he deemed most ‘difficult’ to sit down with – including the star who claims the top spot for his ‘worst’ interview.
Mark Wahlberg
The Dublin-born Norton officially crowned Mark Wahlberg as his “worst-ever” guest. During a 2013 episode of BBC’s The Graham Norton Show, Wahlberg turned up sober but became significantly intoxicated roughly 15 minutes after the programme commenced.
He repeatedly interrupted his fellow panellists Michael Fassbender and Sarah Silverman, perched himself on Norton’s lap, and ultimately fell asleep on the sofa while Fassbender was recounting an anecdote, reports the Mirror.
Norton revealed to The Mirror: “The famous (worst guest) was Mark Wahlberg, I guess. He was fine when he came on the show. There was not a hint of it and then about 20 minutes into the show (alcohol) caught up with him. Oh it was bad. At one point Mark was asleep on the couch in front of the audience.” He delved deeper into his nightmare encounter with Wahlberg at the Henley Literary Festival 2025 on 10 October, sharing with the crowd: “If you ever see a drunk person on the show, it’s because they’ve arrived drunk – we have not made that happen.
“Mark Wahlberg was a weird one because when he arrived, he didn’t seem drunk. He told me about his film, told me a couple of stories about stunts going wrong or whatever, and then it was only 15 minutes into the show when whatever the hell was in his system really took hold – and it was hell.”
Norton disclosed that both Michael Fassbender and Sarah Silverman were thoroughly fed up with Wahlberg’s antics, recounting: “No one could tell a story. You tried to tell a story, he’d just interrupt and, at one stage, Michael Fassbender was telling a story and this one was going quite well. He was really getting into the heart of the anecdote. I thought, ‘This one is going well – I wonder why’ and I looked over at Mark Wahlberg and he was asleep.”
Robert De Niro
Beyond Wahlberg, the chat show presenter also described fellow actor Robert De Niro as a “benign presence” who proved to be an absolutely terrible storyteller. One story dragged on for so long and went so nowhere that De Niro himself asked, “Why am I telling this?” before the whole thing was cut from the episode.
Kevin Costner
Norton has also previously described US actor Kevin Costner as “snooty” and discourteous. He revealed to The Express: “I ask him a question and he looks at me like ‘Jesus, do I have to talk to this man?’ He kind of gives a half-a*** answer and Helen Mirren chips in and asks him a question and he could not be happier.”
Mickey Rourke
Actor and professional boxer Mickey Rourke was branded “exhausting” and a “nightmare” by Norton. The star allegedly turned up clutching a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels and continuously sparked up cigarettes during filming.
Norton told New Zealand Herald: “Mickey Rourke he was just exhausting because he wanted to smoke all the time. I’d turn away for a second, turn back and he’d have lit another cigarette. It was so boring – you feel like a teacher taking children on a school trip, not a chat show host.”
David Cassidy
Norton also recalled his interview with 1970s pop icon David Cassidy as one of the most unpleasant experiences of his career, characterising the late singer as “bitter and weird” during their encounter.
During an appearance on This Morning, Norton discussed the uncomfortable Cassidy interview with presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.
Norton shed light on why the meeting was so disagreeable, stating: “I loved him when I was a teenager, and then you meet him, and he’s so bitter and weird… not a happy time… I think David hates that he was David Cassidy.”
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