On this week’s show (23rd January), Graham welcomes Ant and Dec, alias Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, Emmy-winning actress Clare Foy, chart-topping musician and Stranger Things star Joe Keery, and Tinie Tempah.
Ant & Dec reveal an encounter during a royal sleepover with the then Prince Charles when they stayed at Dumfries House.
Ant explains, “We were following him for a year for a TV show and got on really well with him. We were asked if we would like to spend the night at the house ahead of the final interview. We were like ‘Hell, yes.’ It was amazing and everything you’d imagine. I tried on the robe that was in my room and ran out into the corridor to find Dec and there was the Prince. He said hello and started talking to me about pruning roses. I was so embarrassed.”
Dec adds, “We then had wine in the room and got a bit noisy. We took it a bit far and were asked to be quiet!”
Asked about their new podcast, Hanging Out with Ant & Dec, Dec says, “We both have small kids and live further apart so if a podcast is in the diary, it forces us to get out and get together. We know each other inside out and we make each other laugh so hopefully people will like it. Our wives are more nervous than us – they think we might give too much away.”
Ant adds, “It really is just two mates catching up.” And on Dec’s lost 90s diary he says, “Some of it makes my toes curl backwards in my shoes!”
Clare, talking about her new film H is for Hawk, and asked about the grief theme, she says, “There is an avoidance of death, but this story brings it out into the open and discusses it.”
She says “I had to get to a competent level of falconry, so I wasn’t afraid of them. I came to appreciate them from a position of love and I really miss them. They are not affectionate creatures but there was a real connection.”
Joe, talking about the end of Stranger Things, and asked if not going back to it has sunk in, he says, “It definitely did when the last show came out on New Year’s Eve. I woke up on New Year’s Day and felt, ‘Wow, that’s the end of an era.’ It is so finite and done which is bittersweet.”
Asked about the global success of his song End of Beginning, he says, “It is crazy. I am shocked and confused about the whole thing. Hearing it in a taxi was cool, and I knew it was big when my grandma asked me about it!”
Talking about combining his music with filming, he says, “There is so much down-time on set, so I wrote and recorded. Being an actor means a lot of waiting so it’s good to be proactive and busy.” Adding, “It started as a breakup song but landed in a place of deep gratitude for the people in my life.”
Tinie performs his single Energy live in the studio.
Talking about the gap since he last produced music, he says, “I went on a long hiatus and took a step back to immerse myself in actual life. This rollercoaster life is incredible but for me it wasn’t real. I settled down, had kids and did loads of stuff that made me feel fulfilled.”
Being a guest Dragon on Dragons’ Den, he says, “It was one of the best experiences, and a great learning curve for me.”
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One and iPlayer Friday, 23rd January 11.15pm
Next week (30th January) Graham's guests include Halle Berry, Chris Hemsworth, Rachel McAdams, John Bishop, and Jessie Ware
Picture credit: BBC/So Television/PA Media/Ian West
