Graham Norton: ‘I make it a rule not to go out with guests from my show’

The Irish television host on slow mornings, vegan food and being shouted at three times a week

How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Graham Norton
Normally I’d be heading off to work at Virgin Radio by 7.30am, so I’m still getting over the bliss of waking up and not having to get out of bed, since quitting in February – lovely as the Virgin people were, I wanted my weekends back. My Saturdays have changed a lot since.
I’ll throw on sweatpants and a hoodie (weekends are for dressing down) and make myself breakfast, usually listening to Radio 4, Virgin or Radio 2, depending on my mood and the playlist.
I listen to a podcast. I used to only listen to them when I was on my way somewhere but now I can just sit in a chair and it almost feels like I’m doing something. I like The News Agents and Las Culturistas, which is about pop culture and also just [the hosts] wanging on about their lives. They’re good company.
I’ll open the fridge and realise there’s nothing in it, so I’ll head to Waitrose and get enough for the weekend. My husband Jono [McLeod] and I have a dog, so one of us will do the dog-walking. Lunch will usually be salad.
My favourite thing to do is sit outside and read, if the weather is good. Otherwise, I’ll catch up with a telly series.
I don’t officially work on weekends now, but I sometimes cycle into central London to a screening of a film that one of my guests is in [for The Graham Norton Show]. It’s research. I do a lot of cycling, my weekend exercise. I also work out three times a week with a man who shouts at me.
I do most of the cooking because I like it. Jono is a vegan so we’re a vegan household. Diana Henry has really good recipes and I love Georgina Hayden and Meera Sodha. Having said that, we usually go out on Saturday nights now – I couldn’t when I worked on Sunday mornings, but we have the luxury of meeting up with friends at our favourite restaurant, Apricity in Mayfair.
I don’t go out with guests from my show as a rule. I don’t mean that in a rude way – it’s just we all have our own friends. One dinner did happen with Stanley Tucci, Miriam Margolyes and Jimmy Carr. It was lovely and we all said, ‘Oh, we must do this again,’ but never did.
We look for something short to watch because it’s too late to get stuck into a film. At the moment I love Such Brave Girls on BBC Three, a really funny comedy.
I used to stay up so late because I was constantly in denial about what time I had to get up. And I used to have FOMO [fear of missing out] in my own house – this feeling that if I went to bed, the house would be having fun without me. Lately I’ve gotten much better about going to bed. It’s rare I’ll stay up after midnight now, which I can’t believe I’m saying… Although often I’ll wait until it’s actually midnight and do the next day’s Wordle before I go to sleep – I’m afraid I am that person. I don’t scroll or read in bed. Apart from Wordle, bed is for sleeping.
Interview: Vicki Power
The Graham Norton Show starts on 27 September on BBC One; Graham Norton’s new novel, Frankie, is out now (£20, Coronet)
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