Graham Norton has revealed that he underwent a secret surgery ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest final tonight, for which he is set to provide commentary on.
On Scott Mills’ BBC Radio 2 show, the TV star spoke alongside former Eurovision winner, Concnita Wurst, and was asked to reveal something he had not spoken about in interviews before.
Graham said, “I have a good one,” and explained that he had undergone major surgery on his shoulder.
“This is my left shoulder’s first appearance on radio, it’s a brand new shoulder. It’s less than two weeks old,” shared the 62-year-old.
When asked how he was feeling after the procedure, he replied: “It feels a bit new, it’s a little owie, but forgive me, I’m on many, many medications right now, so if I say anything bad, it’s not my fault.”
This comes after he was then seen at the recent Bafta Television Awards show sporting a black sling for his arm.
Tonight – the same night as the Eurovision final – Graham is guest starring in a themed episode of Doctor Who entitled The Interstellar Song Contest, where he plays a competition host.
He is known for commentating on Eurovision as well as his hit talk show, The Graham Norton Show, in which he sits down with A-list celebrities.
“Calling all Eurovision fans! This season of Doctor Who will follow the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) as they travel to the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest,” shared the BBC ahead of the release of the episode.
“…Where planets from across the universe compete for the top prize, and along for the ride is the King of Eurovision himself, Graham Norton.”
“Graham Norton joins the ensemble cast for the episode, which includes guest appearances from stars of stage and screen Freddie Fox, Rylan, Kadiff Kirwan, Charlie Condou, and Miriam-Teak Lee.”
Showrunner and head writer of Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, shared: “There’s no song contest without the great man himself, and it was an honour to welcome Graham Norton to our studios in Cardiff.”
“And it’s not just a cameo, he has a whole plot twist all to himself! This is the wildest episode of all, and we’re lucky to have Graham adding to the mayhem.”
This comes only a few months after it was reported that the series was going to face “an axing” as Ncuti Gatwa was on the “verge of quitting” amid a drop in ratings.
Ncuti portays The Doctor and is the fifteenth actor to take on the iconic sci-fi role – following in the footsteps of stars such as David Tennant and Matt Smith.
Fans of the show were reportedly growing tired of the woke plots, which has seemingly caused a significant decline in the programme’s ratings.
Following Jodie Whittaker’s departure as the Time Lord, reports stated that executives will not decide on the show’s future until after Ncuti’s second series premieres.
The series’ crew are also reportedly fearing that his exit could cause the series to come to an end after 62 years.
A source told The Sun: “Ncuti doesn’t want to be tied to the series beyond this and plans to relocate to Los Angeles with several Hollywood projects standing by for him.”
“His team also see a lot of fan backlash from the series, and don’t want the perception of him still being The Doctor to get in the way of any future work.”
