Graham Norton Reveals the Infamous Celebrity Guest Who Made His Show a Living Nightmare
What does it take to snag the dishonor of being Graham Norton’s “worst ever guest” on his iconic red sofa—a place where A-listers from Judi Dench to Harrison Ford have charmed their way through awkwardness, gaffes, and the occasional tipsy confession? If your mind went straight to “someone who’s a bit too enthusiastic with the green room drinks,” you’d be spot on . It’s a little wild to imagine Norton, a maestro of making chaos look chic, being truly thrown off by anything—yet here we are, talking about that singular, excruciating exchange that’s managed to haunt his anecdotes even years later . Maybe the real question is, how much wine does it take for a Hollywood star to crash not just a segment, but the memory banks of every viewer, co-guest, and host in the building? Grab your popcorn (and perhaps hide your cocktails) as we wade into the deliciously awkward moment that even Graham won’t soon forget—oh, and don’t say I didn’t warn you about secondhand embarrassment . LEARN MORE
Graham Norton has revealed the identity of the ‘worst ever guest’ to grace his famous red sofa.
The TV presenter’s late-night talk show has been a staple of Friday night telly over the past couple of decades, with the 62-year-old Irishman interviewing everyone from Harrison Ford to Tom Jones and Judi Dench over the years.
Norton is back on our screens once again, with recent episodes seeing the likes of Taylor Swift, Cillian Murphy and Julia Roberts appear – alongside a divisive cameo from Robbie Williams.
However, all the names above can take solace from the fact that none of them holds the title of ‘Graham Norton’s worst celebrity guest‘ as that honour goes to an actor who’d maybe had one too many drinks before sitting down on the sofa back in 2013.
The TV presenter has no shortage of anecdotes from times where he’s interviewed famous people (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
We are, of course, talking about Mark Wahlberg, who appeared to be absolutely plastered while promoting his movie Broken City alongside fellow guests Sarah Silverman and Michael Fassbender.
Recalling the incident during an appearance at Henley Literary Festival on Friday (October 10), the Eurovision commentator explained that Wahlberg hadn’t appeared drunk when he first arrived.
“If you ever see a drunk person on the show, it’s because they’ve arrived drunk – we have not made that happen,” he explained.
“Mark Wahlberg was a weird one because when he arrived, he didn’t seem drunk. He told me about his film, told me a couple of stories about stunts going wrong or whatever, and then it was only 15 minutes into the show when whatever the hell was in his system really took hold – and it was hell.”
For anyone who’s not seen the awkward interview, Norton struggles to get a full story from either Fassbender or Silverman, due to Wahlberg constantly interrupting everyone.
Watch a clip of his appearance below:
Norton then revealed one particular moment in the episode he thought was going well after receiving no interruptions – only to realise that Wahlberg had fallen asleep.
He added: “At one stage, Michael Fassbender was telling a story, and this one was going quite well. He was really getting into the heart of the anecdote.
“I thought, ‘this one is going well – I wonder why’ and I looked over at Mark Wahlberg and he was asleep.
“So yeah, we don’t encourage that.
The interviewer appeared awkward at some moments (BBC)
Fortunately, there appears to be no hard feelings between Norton and Wahlberg, as the Ted actor has made less memorable appearances on the show in the following years.
Wahlberg has even suggested his appearance may have been pre-planned after all, telling Digital Spy that people ended up taking his antics too seriously.
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