Graham Norton is happy to set the record straight about why his trip to New Zealand later this month will be the first time he’s ever been here.
And no, the fact he’s never visited our shores isn’t because the Kiwis who’ve featured in the infamous Big Red Chair on The Graham Norton Show have put him off Aotearoa. New Zealanders have told some dodgy stories over the years, many of them involving bodily functions. But, that hasn’t fazed Graham, who is coming here to do a tour called An Evening with Graham Norton.
“I’m always delighted when it’s a Kiwi in the Big Red Chair,” he tells the Weekly on a Zoom call from his London home. “You’re always really likeable and it’s normally a pretty good story, so I’m very pleased to see a Kiwi.”
At one stage, the chair “was Kiwi central”, he says. Then he goes on to explain the reason he hasn’t been to Aotearoa before is down to logistics and time.
“I thought if I’m going to go, I want to go for long enough to see it all,” he shares. “Also, people kept asking me to go for work, to do a tour. It took me a while to put a show together.
“Last September, I did a little tour in the UK and at the end I thought, ‘Oh, this is entertainment of sorts, let’s bring this to New Zealand.’”
Graham, 61, has another reason for wanting to come here. New Zealand is where his Graham Norton (GN) range of wines is based. His partnership with Kiwi winemakers Invivo started back in 2011, after he mentioned in a media interview that he was fond of New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Invivo co-founders Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron got in touch with his show to ask if they could supply some sav to the green room. Of course, Graham thought this was a great idea.
A couple of years later, they asked if he was interested in creating his own wines.
“I thought, ‘These guys seem to know what they’re doing – I’ll give it a go!’ They’ve done an amazing job, and it’s just got bigger and bigger.”
Graham’s very hands-on when it comes to alcohol that bears his name – now six wines, three gins and a vodka – and almost every year Tim and Rob have travelled to wherever Graham is with various grapes for a blending session to create a vintage.
“Doing the blending is one of my favourite days of the year,” he enthuses. “I love it.”
Not only does he frequently drink his own drop, but he also shops for it himself. When he’s at his home in County Cork, Ireland, people often spot him stocking up in the local SuperValu supermarket.
“I’m in there, buying my own stuff, piling my trolley high and people must be looking at me, thinking, ‘Really? You’re buying it?’ Yes, I am.”
He’s looking forward to seeing where the wine is made and blending the next vintage while he’s in New Zealand. He and his husband, filmmaker Jono McLeod, are going to drive around the country sightseeing, although he’s not quite sure what’s on their must-see list.
“I think there’s some beautiful scenery in the South Island we want to see – some mountains, coasts,” he muses. “I’m clueless! I don’t know what I’m going to be doing, but I’m very excited about it.”
When he returns to the UK after the tour, he’ll start writing his sixth novel.
“I don’t know what it’s about yet, but I will sort it.”
It is never hard to find time to write because he enjoys it so much. “It’s my pleasure. It’s not like I think, ‘Oh, God, I’ve got to finish that stupid book.’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh, good, today is a day I can focus on the book.’”
Graham says he feels fortunate to get to do so many varied things. “I stumbled into the chat show and that took off. The success of the chat show has gifted me all these other opportunities. Thanks to that, I’m doing the wine, I’m writing the books, I’ve got lovely things like this tour that have come out of it. I’m very lucky. The show is my core business – everything else is butter on bacon.”
To buy tickets to Graham’s shows across New Zealand in March and April, visit ticketmaster.co.nz/graham-norton-tickets/artist/3085390.
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