The Graham Norton Show has conjured onscreen magic with its chaotic yet somehow perfectly matched group of guests over the years.
The Friday night line-ups range from Hollywood A-Listers to national treasures to the more niche cultural icons – and everything in between.
We’ve seen pop star Taylor Swift on the sofa with Irish actor Cillian Murphy; the mischievous Miriam Margolyes having a hoot with Stanley Tucci; and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cosying with Celebrity Traitors icon Alan Carr – to name a few combos.
But simply choosing who will appear on the sofa is not the only task.
You then have to decide where everyone will sit to keep the stars happy and maximise the effervescent chemistry and storytelling potential.
Now, producer Graham Stuart has revealed exactly what goes into deciding which celebrity gets the spot closest to the talk show host, and why some may be plopped onto the end.
On The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman, Stuart replied to a fan question about how they go about choosing the order.
He first noted: ‘Interesting question from one of your media-savvy listeners. My answer can be summed up thus: welcome to showbusiness, where all stars are equal but some are more equal than others.’
Then explained that ‘seat one’ (that closest to Norton) was by far the most sought after.
Stuart continued: ‘Media hierarchy is primarily driven by publicists and seat one, which is the seat next to Graham, is the primary aim of all of them for their clients.
‘Our sofa is so star-packed that those publicists have to work very hard to get what they want.’
Osman then revealed that on the numerous occasions he’s appeared on the show, he has never landed the coveted top seat, adding he doesn’t have a publicist.
‘Here’s where we draw the curtain a bit. I leave it to you to imagine how long that process can take. After that, we aim to arrange the order to maximise chemistry,’ he replied cryptically.
Although the other spots ‘are not hierarchical’, according to the podcast co-hosts, the end position also serves its purpose.
Traditionally, it is ‘reserved for a funny person’ but it can also go to ‘an artist we know will play the talkshow game correctly and help create the right kind of conversational flow’.
As Osman (who hosts his own show House of Games) clarified afterwards, a person who plays the game correctly is ‘literally someone who is fun in conversation and who wants to hear from other people and who can throw in their own things which are funny and fun, but also can be sat a fair amountof distance from [Norton]’.
There have been plenty of tidbits about what goes on behind the scenes of such a popular, and often star-studded, show which has been onscreens since 2007.
Talking to Metro, Stuart revealed that once a big name requested a second dressing room for a peculiar reason.
‘I can’t given name but we once had a major artist insist on a second dressing room,’ he shared.
‘Which, you know, that’s fair enough. But…it was for their phone.’
Meanwhile, the Irish TV host himself revealed that they are yet to bring Brad Pitt on the sofa, despite their best efforts.
‘He’s one of those ones that we keep getting close to, and then it doesn’t happen.
‘In America, I think he doesn’t sit on the couch. He’ll do skits with them. He’ll play little games and stuff, so we’ve never had him sat down. Maybe we never will.’
The Graham Norton Show returns to BBC One tonight at 11:15pm.
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