Graham Norton: I didn’t develop a friendship with Madonna… she remained the icy star

Irish comic presenter Graham Norton and host of comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show is releasing a new book and talks about his first time meeting Madonna and the first time she appeared on the show back in 2012.

To promote his latest book, Graham Norton took to British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail to publish some extracts…

When “So Graham Norton” started on Channel 4 in 1998 she was top of my wish-list of guests, but it would be 14 long years before she was finally ready to perch her perfectly toned buttocks on the edge of my red couch.

There were many conditions:
– It had to be a special.
– She wanted to tape it in the afternoon.
– She wanted approval over the music.

I remember being nervous and then relaxing. We got the measure of each other and afterwards, as I was busy debriefing with the production team, I got word that I was wanted upstairs. I ran and found Madonna and her ‘people’ making their way down a corridor.

No friendship developed afterwards. She remained the icy star, me the awestruck fan, our worlds never to collide. And there was certainly no hint of the kind of extraordinary invitation I received when Liza Minnelli appeared on my Channel Four show V Graham Norton back in 2002.

About the first time meeting Madonna…

A few weeks before the taping I was invited to meet her at a champagne reception at Claridge’s that would be followed by a screening of her directorial debut, W.E. I waited in an ornate room with a mixture of media people and celebrities. Finally the door opened. The eagle had landed. Trying not to stare, we all stared.
Madonna made her way into the room shaking hands and making brief small talk, like the Queen visiting a toothbrush factory in Sheffield.

A woman in a dark suit appeared at my shoulder. ‘Come with me.’ My mouth went dry and we moved through the sea of bodies till we reached the shining island at the centre of the throng. A pale hand was extended towards me.
‘Congratulations on the film,’ I said.
‘Oh, have you seen it already?’
‘No, I’m seeing it tonight.’
‘Well, save your congratulations till afterwards.’

He asks himself…

Surely we want our divas to act like… well, divas.

Nobody does that better than Madonna. She may not be God’s gift to acting, but when it comes to being Madonna she can do it better than anyone else. She is so convinced she is special that we are all swept along by her tsunami of ambition and need.

What do you think about Graham Norton’s comments?