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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Niamh Spence

Graham Norton flooded with support from Liverpool for Eurovision after he issues apology

TV presenter Graham Norton has been flooded with praise from Liverpool after he issued an apology for his tongue-in-cheek travel announcements on Merseyrail.

The BBC presenter discussed the Eurovision celebrations on This Morning on Friday with presenters Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond.

Speaking with the ITV presenters, Graham said he's been surprised after seeing his face everywhere in the city as it played host to the Eurovision Song Contest. He told Alison and Dermot: "I feel weirdly famous in Liverpool at the moment."

He then issued an apology for one major change in the city, as the voiceovers for Merseyrail trains have been updated to feature himself as well as Rylan Clark.

Graham Norton discussed Liverpool gearing up as part of its hosting for Eurovision (Getty Images)

Graham and Rylan are sharing advice for passengers including asking them not to be a "diva" and to ask for "a little help" from a friendly member of staff if they need.

Discussing his cameos on the network, Graham joked: "I think I did do a voiceover for 'the next station is...' Sorry Liverpool."

Whilst the Irish presenter might have apologised to Liverpool, many of Merseyrail's passengers have loved having the voices of Graham and Rylan on the network.

Writing on Twitter, one user wrote: "I am loving the #Eurovision rail station announcements @merseyrail. Lovely walk to the station and to be welcomed by Graham Norton this morning!"

Graham issued an apology to Liverpool for his Merseyrail announcements (ITV)

Another added: "Graham Norton and Rylan @merseyrail announcements for @Eurovision. We love to hear it."

A third praised the announcements as they described the feeling in Liverpool at the moment: "Life in Merseyside right now: The buses don’t say where they’re going, just the number and the #Eurovision logo. Graham Norton now does the announcements at Merseyrail stations.

"Sophie Ellis-Bextor set up a kitchen disco in John Lewis. Everyone wears #Eurovision merch and strangers start chatting in the streets. It’s like a city-wide comic con. Music is everywhere, 2 little Ukrainian kids were playing the accordion to rapturous applause. I’m genuinely worried as to what we’re all going to do come Sunday."

Graham Norton has narrated the Eurovision Song Contest for the BBC since 2008 (Getty Images)

This year saw Graham take up his usual position of narrating the BBC coverage of Eurovision, which he has done since taking over from Terry Wogan since 2008.

The star is reported to rake in a whopping fee for his work as the Eurovision host according to the BBC 2019-2020 figures, which reveal he was paid £725,000-£729,999 for his weekly radio show, plus 'a range of programmes and series, Bafta film and TV awards'.

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