Of course, Norton is no stranger to NZ. His talk show has been on screens since 2007, where he has interviewed everyone from Sam Neill to Hugh Grant and Mariah Carey.

And New Zealanders have featured heavily in his show’s red chair segment, where audience members are invited to share a personal – and hopefully funny – story about themselves.

If they fail to entertain, they get flipped backwards.

Norton is also the author of eight books, and has been a regular judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

The Irishman was in NZ in March and April this year, touring his live show, An Evening with Graham Norton.

While he was here, he stopped by Woolworths’ Mt Roskill for a surprise wine-tasting. He promotes Invivo, created by two New Zealanders, which has sold a range bearing Norton’s name since 2014.

In 2024, Invivo produced its 20 millionth bottle of Graham Norton wine.

“The idea today is just sort of seeing what wine goes with what food and if people will push themselves to kind of try new things,” he told the Herald during his supermarket visit.

Season 33 of The Graham Norton Show will move from Three to TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+ on October 3.

Bridget Jones joined the NZ Herald in 2025. She has been a lifestyle and entertainment journalist and editor for more than 15 years.