The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton. Credit: So Television, Christopher Baines
The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

  • TV chat show
  • BBC One / BBC Two
  • 2007 - 2024
  • 494 episodes (31 series)

Comic chat show presented by Graham Norton. The biggest names in showbiz join the host on his sofa.

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Series 12, Episode 1 - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Miranda Hart, Ronnie Corbett, Usher

Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals he is trying to rebuild his relationship with Maria Shriver; Miranda Hart says she finds Prince Charles sexy; Ronnie Corbett shares his workout secrets with Arnie; and Usher performs live in the studio.

Preview clips

Further details

Arnold Schwarzenegger, talking about his first film role for 10 years in The Last Stand, says: "I was asked throughout the governorship to do movies but I was focusing on the state and fixing the problems. I couldn't do the people's work and do the movies. It just doesn't work. But as soon as I finished all the offers started coming in. It's an extraordinary thing to go back and forth between politics and showbiz and it is terrific to go back to the movies again."

On being Governor of California he says, "It was a great job. There's something very attractive about being a public servant and giving something back. It is tough, you get attacked all the time and it's really challenging but doing the people's work is terrific especially for no money, I didn't get paid at all during that time," adding, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, "It would have been petty cash for me anyway!"

Revealing he did not tell his wife he was running for Governor, he says, "My wife freaked out when she heard that, and I didn't tell her at all the second time. It came up in a press conference and she heard it on television and when I got home she said, 'Well thanks a lot for sharing that with everyone else,' but it was okay though as she comes from a political family so she knows how it works."

Also revealing that he kept his heart surgery a secret from everyone, he says, "It was totally crazy but I live in denial a lot of the time and if I put it away I don't have to deal with it and it doesn't exist. Having to have heart surgery was such a shock and I didn't want to talk about it. If I had told my wife she would want to talk about it every day, her mother would want to talk about and then Uncle Teddy would want to talk about it and I didn't want to talk about it all."

"I had a plan to have it done and then tell my wife I was on a business trip, until the surgeon said, 'I am opening you up your chest, you will have a huge scar and it's impossible to hide something like that' and I said, 'Ah yes, maybe you're right.' So I told her."

Asked whether Maria has read his warts and all autobiography, he says, "I am sure she has read it. Yes. I speak to her pretty much every day. Under the circumstances we have a good relationship and we raise the kids together and we make a real effort to do things together like Christmas and Valentine's Day. She has been really terrific about it. I feel terrible because I screwed up so badly and destroyed the great relationship we had but now I am slowly trying to rebuild it again."

And, asked if he was nervous of raking over the past in his book, he says, "It's painful when it gets discovered, it's painful to write about it and it's painful when people ask you about it but it's my life story and my life story is not just me having great successes. I have had huge victories, but at the same time I have had some great failures - in movies, financially and in my personal life. I shared the whole me rather than leaving bits out."

Ronnie Corbett reveals he, like Arnie, works out every day: "I've got my own little treadmill at home, but I only do widths!" Before adding "Golf keeps me fit, I don't play as much because of my new knee but I still play every day..."

In an amusing, if slightly confusing, exchange Ronnie and Miranda Hart try and explain some of The Two Ronnies' most famous comedy moments, including their 'Four Candles' sketch, to a rather bemused Arnie.

Talking about receiving his CBE from The Queen, Ronnie says, "She was sweet and lovely. She is a fan. She is the business. The whole thing was very touching."

Miranda, talking about her own royal encounter at the Jubilee concert said, "I find Charles quite sexy. When I met him, he shook my hand and leant in very close (Miranda demonstrates on Arnie) and said, 'You are so funny.'"

Asked if there is a third series for her sitcom after a two-year hiatus, Miranda says, "Yes, I finished filming it yesterday. It takes up a lot of material. I hate the feeling of not doing something properly and I was really tired at the end of the second series so it was nice to do something different and come back to it."

On Call the Midwife being exported to America, she says, "Amusingly, they previewed it saying, 'Miranda Kerr will be starring in her first dramatic role,' so the American's must have had a bit of shock when Chummy arrived! I also like to think if they didn't know who Miranda Kerr was, they thought I was married to Orlando Bloom - and, wow, she's punching above her weight!"

Usher performs Scream live in the studio before joining Graham to chat about his new album.

Notes

Ben Affleck was initally due to appear on the show but had to drop out in early October due to diary/scheduling issues.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 19th October 2012
Time
10:35pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
45 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 21st October 2012 11:25pm BBC1
Sunday 21st October 2012 11:55pm BBC1 Wales
Monday 22nd October 2012 12:10am BBC1 Scot

Cast & crew

Cast
Graham Norton Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Miranda Hart Guest
Usher Raymond IV (as Usher) Guest
Arnold Schwarzenegger Guest
Ronnie Corbett Guest
Writing team
Rob Colley Writer
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Steve Smith Director
Jon Magnusson Series Producer
Mike Altman Producer
Pete Snell Producer
Alan Thorpe Producer
Graham Stuart Executive Producer
Perry Widdowson Editor
Chris Webster Production Designer
Jonathan Whitehead (as Trellis) Composer

Videos

Arnold Schwarzenegger chats about workout routines

Graham chats with the guests about their workout routines & Arnold Schwarzenegger's days of bodybuilding.

Featuring: Graham Norton, Ronnie Corbett, Miranda Hart & Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger chats about his catchphrashes

Arnold Schwarzenegger chats about his famous catchphrashes from his movies, like "I'll be back".

Featuring: Graham Norton, Ronnie Corbett, Miranda Hart & Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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