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Graham Norton reveals how he deals with his difficult celebrity guests

The chat show host appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

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Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Graham Norton has revealed how he deals with difficult or boring celebrity guests who appear on his chat show. The seasoned interviewer found himself in the hot seat this week when he appeared on Stephen Colbert's US chat show to promote his new book, Holding. And while he was there, he explained to fellow host Stephen how he copes when confronted with a tricky star. "What I do is, one, we liquor them up," he said. "Well, I think if you come out and there's a cocktail waiting for you, you immediately think, 'This might be a nice time,'" he said.

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Graham Norton has revealed how he deals with difficult - or boring - celebrity guests

Dublin-born Graham, 54, was then asked what he does if his guests aren't opening up to him. "The benefit is, that if one of them is Mr Monosyllabic, you kind of go, 'nap time for him', and you move on and hopefully the other one is a chatty Cathy. Now, if you get two nothings, then that is a real struggle, because that's worse than one bad guest," he replied.

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"Happily, that rarely happens because somebody senses weakness on the couch, and all guests – I think most actors, most musicians, most writers – they have a wanting to be liked, a 'wanting to show off' gene. And that gene is strong within them. And if somebody isn't talking, they think, 'I'll talk!' This is my moment!"

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