Graham Norton Biography, Age, Family, Relationship, Awards, Net Worth

Who is Graham Norton?

Graham Norton whose real name is Graham William Walker, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator and presenter. He was once a presenter of the Saturday-morning slot on BBC Radio 2 and he also presented on Saturdays and Sundays on Virgin Radio UK. He has been the BBC’s television commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest since 2009. He became a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 and he is the host of the upcoming drag singing competition known as Queen of the Universe Season 1.

In this post, I will be writing about Graham Norton biography, age, career, family, awards, net worth, relationship, and other facts about his. First, let’s look at his profile summary.

Graham Norton Profile Summary

Graham Norton Biography

Graham Norton was born as Graham William Walker on April 4, 1963, in Clondalkin, County Dublin, Ireland. He was born to Billy William (died 2000), a sales representative for Guinness, and Rhoda Walker. He has an older sister by the name Paula Giles.

Norton grew up in a Protestant (Church of Ireland) family in the predominantly Catholic town of Bandon, County Cork, which he has said made him feel somewhat isolated. His father’s family were from County Wicklow, while his mother is a native of Belfast. He discovered during a 2007 episode of the genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?, that his father’s direct ancestors were English, having originated in Yorkshire before emigrating to Ireland in 1713.

Norton attended Bandon Grammar School in West Cork and later, he went to University College Cork, where he spent two years studying English and French in the 1980s. He did not complete his studies because he had a breakdown and refused to leave his dorm room. In 2013, he received an honorary doctorate from the university. He moved to London to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama in the late 1980s. He also worked as a waiter during that time. Upon joining the actors’ union Equity, he chose Norton (his great-grandmother’s maiden name) as his new surname as there was already an actor called Graham Walker represented by the union.

Graham Norton Career

Norton made his first appearance in broadcasting in the UK, where he had a spot as a regular comedian and panelist on BBC Radio 4 show Loose Ends in the early 1990s when this shows ran on Saturday mornings. He was one of the early successes of Channel 5, winning an award as stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty. In 1998, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own chat shows, including the weekly So Graham Norton (1998-2002), followed by the daily weeknight show V Graham Norton (2002–03). 

In 2003, Norton was listed in The Observer as one of the 1,000 funniest acts in British comedy. (Though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK.) He was also named the most powerful person in TV comedy by Radio Times in January 2004. Norton ventured into American television in the summer of 2004. The Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. 

Norton began his career on the BBC in 2001 when he hosted Comic Relief in 2001. He hosted the Saturday evening reality TV series Strictly Dance Fever on BBC One, as well as a new comedy chat show, Graham Norton’s Bigger Picture. He also read stories some nights on the BBC children’s channel CBeebies as part of Bedtime Hour. Norton also hosted the BBC One series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Norton also hosted various other shows for the BBC including; When Will I Be Famous? (2007), The One and Only (2008), and Totally Saturday (2009). Since 2007, Norton has also been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards. 

Norton’s chat show, The Graham Norton Show, began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two. The show moved to BBC One on October 6, 2009. Norton is a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK alongside Alan Carr in a rotating basis. They were joined by permanent judges Michelle Visage and RuPaul.

 As an actor, Norton played Mr Puckov in the 2006 American comedy spoof film Another Gay Movie. He also played Taylor in the romantic comedy film, I Could Never Be Your Woman in 2007.

Norton was the host of the comedy game-show Most Popular on US cable television channel WE tv. He is also going to be the host for the upcoming drag singing competition known as Queen of the Universe Season 1. The competition is set to premiere on Paramount+ on the December 2, 2021.

Graham Norton Awards/Nominations

Norton has received so many awards and these includes; Gaytime Award, British Academy Television Awards, Royal Television Awards and National Television Awards.

Graham Norton Family

Norton is the son of Billy Walker and Rhoda Walker. His father, Billy Walker who died in 2000 was a sales representative for Guinness. Norton also has an elder sister by name Paula Giles. 

Graham Norton Relationship/Dates

Norton is openly gay. He dated Scott Michaels (1996-2001), Carl Austin (2002), Kristian Seeber (2005-2006), Trevor Patterson (2011-2013) and Andrew Smith (2013-2015). In 2015, he said that his ex-boyfriends often resented the role they had to play in the public eye as his partner.

Graham Norton Net Worth

Norton has an estimated net worth of $40 million.