Claudia Winkleman took the reins of the Graham Norton Show on Friday night. Upon opening the show, Claudia expressed gratitude to the audience for their warm welcome. “I’m so sorry Graham isn’t here she said. To be honest, nobody is more livid than me,” she joked.
She then welcomed the night’s guests, Chris Pratt, Toby Jones, Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Rob Beckett, who all settled onto the renowned red sofa.
It was previously revealed that The Traitors presenter would be stepping in for Graham while he embarked on his tour in Australia. During a previous episode featuring Claudia as a guest, Graham had hinted at her forthcoming role.
“Claudia does have another little job coming up… at the end of this series I’m popping off to do a tour of Australia and my seat is going to be filled for one week only by none other than Claudia Winkleman”, according to the Mirror.
The Strictly Come Dancing host responded with a light-hearted apology in advance. Despite the switch, Claudia assured everyone that Graham had left her comprehensive instructions on how to manage the show.
Graham appeared to be closely monitoring the situation, posting on X (formerly known as Twitter) at the beginning of the show: “Time to start the show! Tonight the brilliant Claudia Winkleman is joined by @rachelchinourir, @robbeckettcomic, Toby Jones, Saoirse-Monica Jackson and @prattprattpratt!” He continued to offer live commentary throughout the episode.
Claudia received a flood of accolades from viewers on Twitter, now X, who are keen to see her take the spotlight with her own chat show in the future.
One viewer tweeted: “Claudia Winkleman needs her own chat show. She’s definitely holding her own here while Graham is away #TheGNShow”, and another impressed fan stated: “Claudia Winkleman did really well on the #GrahamNorton show”.
Echoing these sentiments, another chimed in: “I think Claudia Winkleman did a great job tonight I can’t wait for the next series of The Traitors #GrahamNorton #GrahamNortonShow”, whilst yet another admirer commented: “Loving Claudia on #GrahamNorton looking fabulous as ever.”
With Graham Norton touring Australia, the final episode on Friday, March 7, will not feature him but instead will be marked by a special roundup episode, capturing unforgettable highlights from earlier series, spotlighting celebrities like Demi Moore, Timothee Chalamet, Cher, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman, Dwayne Johnson, Zoe Saldana, and Hugh Grant.
A hectic year awaits Claudia as she preps for the filming of Celebrity Traitors UK starting in April; the nine-part run is expected later this year. In addition, fans are eagerly anticipating the return of the original Traitors series, slated for its fourth season in 2026.
Graham Norton’s self-titled show airs each Friday on BBC One from 10:35pm.