Graham Norton has told GB News that he still holds a fondness for Irish comedy Father Ted, despite a public fallout with its creator, Graham Linehan.
Mr Norton first gained public recognition playing the hyperactive Father Noel Furlong across three episodes of the sitcom between 1996 and 1998.
However, while Mr Norton remains a mainstay on the BBC’s roster with his own talk show and Eurovision duties, Mr Linehan’s career has headed on a different trajectory due to his gender-critical views.
Mr Linehan has been vocal about how cancel culture has upended his life, and the subject itself is one that’s caused friction between the writer and Mr Norton, after the latter previously dismissed the suggestion of its existence.
Graham Norton spoke to GB News on the NTAs red carpet
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GB NEWS
Speaking on the red carpet at the NTAs, Mr Norton reflected on the show and whether a return to comedic acting could lie ahead.
“No. I mean, really, I trained as an actor but never worked as an actor,” Mr Norton replied.
“So rather (Father Ted) was the one thing I did and then everything else moved to stand-up or presenting; that was much more kind of my lane. So I’ve stuck to that.
“I’ve left it too late, I think, for the acting,” he added before being quizzed about his memories of the show.
Graham Linehan was the writer behind Father Ted
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PA“The people who recite it to me are people in bands, because I think on tour buses, they watch the DVDs a lot,” Mr Norton revealed.
“And they say things to me and I’m like, ‘Why are they saying that random thing to me?’ And then I think, ‘Oh yeah, that’s me. That’s a line. I said.'”
The BBC talk show host went on, however, to reveal that, despite the distance between him and Mr Linehan, he’ll still put the series on TV from time to time.
“When I watch it – you know, it’s on all the time – it is still really, really funny.”
Graham Norton revealed he still finds Father Ted ‘very funny’ today
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GB NEWS
Mr Norton’s controversial stance on cancel culture hit headlines during an appearance at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2022.
The Eurovision presenter claimed that cancel culture simply did not exist and suggested “accountability” was the more appropriate term.
Mr Norton challenged the premise of cancellation at the time, arguing: “You read a lot of articles in papers by people complaining about ‘cancel culture’. You think, in what world are you cancelled?”
The remarks drew the attention of Mr Linehan and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who too has become outspoken on the topic of gender.
Graham Linehan has publicly clashed with Graham Norton before
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PASpeaking to Andrew Doyle at the Battle of Ideas festival soon after, the Father Ted creator said: “I find Graham Norton personally such a betrayal.
“One of the first things he did was his role on Father Ted; there is no way he cannot know about what’s happened to me.”
Mr Linehan maintained that Mr Norton could not have been unaware that he had been effectively shut out of the industry over his gender-critical views.
“For him to say there’s no cancel culture, I don’t know what to say about it, but he’s really disappointed me,” he added.
Graham Norton fronts his own talk show on the BBC
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PAElsewhere during his red carpet chat with The People’s Channel, Mr Norton revealed what modern-day comedy he’s currently enjoying.
“I think just at the moment – I’m just saying this because I’ve watched a bunch of it last night – is the new season of Ludwig. I really enjoyed that with David (Mitchell) and Anna (Maxwell Martin),” he revealed.
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