Graham Norton has given fans of his BBC chat show a glimpse into how he and his team choose exactly where his celebrity guests are placed on that famous sofa.
The Irish presenter’s Friday night talk show has become one of the most popular around the world, thanks to his mix of A-listers, public figures and British TV favourites.
But what exactly does it take to put together the perfect celebrity couch?
Well, during an appearance on the Between Two Pods podcast, Graham explained just how the sofa is planned to ensure the show flows well.
Although the general consensus is that the most famous guests get a spot closest to the host, Graham himself has insisted that isn’t necessarily true.
Instead, he claimed: “Sometimes we feel like someone will do better if they’re [in that spot], if they think I’m making a fuss of them.”
He then explained that, on occasion, the most famous guest will be placed in the centre of the sofa, with guests on either side of them so they “feel more protected” and “more comfortable”.
The Eurovision star went on to say that the couch order can also be dictated by what his guests are on the show to promote.
“Often you want the big movie to be up first, so even if the person who’s selling the big movie isn’t the big star, they’ll be in that first seat,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Graham added that the celebrity guest placed furthest from him on the couch is someone “we have to be confident about”.
“Because they are further away, it’s going to be harder to involve them so they have to be a bit more of a self starter,” he noted.
As a result, the guest in that seat is usually a comic who can hold their own with less prompting.
“I can just look at them and they’ll chip in, that’s what you need from that person and the rest of the couch is more of a movable feast,” the Bafta winner stated.
Graham has spoken before about the secrets of piecing together the perfect talk show line-up – and how his team puts together his guest list.
“You can come up with a dream line-up but they’re not there, so what we tend to do is go for your star booking first – the biggest star,” he said back in 2019.
Around this time, he also explained the importance of always having a comedian among his guests, just in case talk among the other celebs ever gets a little on the dry side.
“If I’m getting nothing, if that is a bloodless stone then you turn to someone else, or I might be lucky to have a comic at the end,” he said.
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