‘I'm 56 With A Life That Suits Me!'

Graham Norton tells Woman’s Weekly why he still loves his show after 12 years

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Graham Norton is the undisputed king of chat. A-listers flock to his sofa on The Graham Norton Show because his warm welcome and witty banter make them feel right at home, and he’s also the go-to host for the Eurovision Song Contest and the BAFTA Television Awards. If those weren’t enough, at 53, Graham even became a best-selling novelist with his debut book, Holding, and he’s currently writing his third.

Woman’s Weekly is meeting Graham over a glass of red wine or two at Soho House in London, and it’s clear to see why he’s become so successful.

However, there is one area in which Graham has not flourished – his love life. He remains resolutely single and he tells us today that nothing has changed on that front. Partners have come and gone, but none have stayed the course.

Graham has jokingly mentioned a couple of times over the years that he may be ‘emotionally detached’, perhaps as a result of his mother’s advice never to react when bullies taunted him as ‘an effeminate little kid’ [his words] at school.

Could that have affected his ability to find lasting love?

‘I don’t know,’ muses Graham, 56, sipping on his Cabernet Sauvignon. ‘I mean, it is what it is. I don’t feel emotionally distant. It’s a bit like when people ask, “Are you a close family?” and I’m, “I don’t know. I’ve only been in one.”