Graham Norton ‘drunk emailed’ Drag Race producers begging for a job

Graham Norton drunk emailed Drag Race producers begging them for a job when he heard a UK version of the contest was in the works.

The legendary broadcaster made the admission in an interview with The Guardian, telling the newspaper that he is “pathetically proud” to be a judge on Drag Race UK and that he has been “a fan for years”.

“It’s the only job I ever went a-looking for,” Graham Norton said.

“When I heard the show was coming over here, I must’ve been a bit drunk because I emailed the producers. They claim I was on their list anyway.”

He continued: “What the queens do is awe-inspiring. As a judge you only ever see them on the runway, so it’s not until the series airs that I see them as boys.”

The novelist also opened up about the struggle of finding suitably flamboyant outfits to wear on the second season of Drag Race UK, much of which was filmed amidst coronavirus restrictions.

“In lockdown, I wasn’t able to go out and buy anything, so I was really scrabbling around the bottom of the dressing-up box,” Norton said.

“You’ll see some really rank suits in the next series.”

Graham Norton tries not to be ‘too graphic’ when writing sex scenes

Elsewhere in the interview, Norton reflected on his writing career. He published his debut novel Holding in 2016, while his third novel Home Stretch was released last year.

The Irish television personality said there is no real difference between writing gay and straight sex scenes, explaining that such moments require a “balancing act”.

“You don’t want to be too graphic – I’m always aware that my mother is going to read them – but not too coy either,” Norton explained.

“I often reread those scenes, go ‘Eugh!’ and delete a few adjectives. Nobody wants to be nominated for a bad sex award. Although it’s telling that sex is so difficult to write about, they invented an award for it. There isn’t a bad grief award or a bad love award.”