You could say he's the voice of Eurovision and with the grand final taking place on Saturday night (May 13), Graham Norton is back. the champion of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will be decided before the night is out after 26 acts and bands take to the stage for the performance of their life.
And will be back with his quick-witted commentary one of the biggest music events in the world comes to a climax on Saturday night. Liverpool. The city is hosting the annual competition this year on behalf of last year's winners Ukraine after runner-up Sam Ryder landed in second place with hit song Space Man.
But Graham won't be just on commentary duty like in other years. He has been tasked with a second job at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena as the BBC star will also be presenting the show - alongside singer-songwriter and TV presenter Alesha Dixon, Emmy Award-winning actress Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer-songwriter Julia Sanina.
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So that he can carry out his additional role, this year, Graham will have a familiar face beside him to help with proceeding. Comedian and former Great British Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc will join the presenter to commentate - with the pair taking turns in the box to bring audiences their unique and expert views on the 2023 acts.
But aside from his quips from inside his Eurovision commentary box, and the endless A-listers he has befriended on his self-titled chat show, the Graham Norton Show, just what makes Graham, Graham? And how has one near-death experience played a part, if any, in shaping him into the man we all know and love today?
Here are some things to know about the voice of the UK ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final:
His near-death experience
It could have been a very different story for Graham - and British telly for that matter - as, while in his last year at drama school, he was stabbed in London.
The Irish presenter was walking in Kilburn in London, in 1989, when he was stabbed by a group of attackers. He lost around half of his blood and spent two and a half weeks in hospital recovering.
Back in 2003, he spoke about his near-death experience, saying that it was "touch and go". He added: "It was very serious. It was a mugging, I didn't even realise I'd been stabbed in that classic way, because your adrenaline is pumping. I looked down and I saw all this blood."
Then, six years later, while working on a book, he wrote: "Horrible, horrible, horrible as it is to contemplate, I was stabbed in the chest, at about 3am in the morning, Friday, 8th of July. Needless to say, it was a bit of a waking hell.
"Everything dissolved into sheets of white, and waves of weakness swamped over me. Not wishing to sound melodramatic, but I knew I was dying." He reportedly didn't believe the attack to be homophobic, as he was walking alone at the time.
An elderly couple were the ones to discover Graham in the street, saving his life when they called for an ambulance. Since then, Graham has been back to the site where he was stabbed - albeit accidentally - to film a Christmas advert for the BBC. He said: "What are the chances?"
And, looking back on the incident, he has said in interviews that it has given him a unique perspective on life - and even helped him deal with rejection in the TV industry.
His love life
Graham dated Kristian Seeber, who is best known from RuPaul's Drag Race as drag queen Tina Burner which he addressed in his 2014 biography The Lives And Loves Of A He Devil.
On their ill-fated relationship and their decision to move in together, Norton wrote: "The experiment lasted for about six months and it was a disaster. I realise that even to a perfect stranger the outcome would have been glaringly obvious, but when you are in the middle of something and you are desperate for it to work, you'll try anything."
Graham later split up from his partner of two years, Trevor Patterson, in 2013 and broke up with his subsequent partner, music marketing consultant Andrew Smith, in 2015. He said in 2015 that his ex-boyfriends often resented the role they had to play in the public eye as his partner.
Graham has since married in a private ceremony in 2021 with his just his close loved ones and some celeb pals in attendance at Bantry House in West Cork. The TV star has, however, kept the identity of his mystery partner and details of their relationship under wraps even after tying the knot.
His real estate
As well as a home in the Wapping area of London, Graham owns an apartment in New York City and a holiday home in Ahakista, County Cork.
In January 2012, his home was burgled and the keys to his Lexus were stolen. Graham appealed for the return of his car during his BBC Radio 2 show the following day.
His beloved pets
Graham had two dogs - a labradoodle called Bailey and a terrier called Madge, which he adopted from the UK charity Dogs Trust in 2012. However, Graham suffered a double tragedy. In September 2020 he said that Madge had passed away back in December 2019, while Bailey died close to October 2020 in Cork at the age of 15.
He is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "I'm really pleased they both got their final days in Ireland because that’s where they were happiest. Bailey was a very old, big dog and even on the morning he died he was down in the stream drinking and barking. Their lives were full even to the end."
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