Stephen Fry talks about almost becoming a priest, Andrew Scott says Fleabag has changed things, Paloma

Faith thanks Andrew for playing the ‘hot priest’, Lee Mack says he committed the ultimate sin and Bastille

performs live in the studio

On tonight's show (7th June), Graham welcomes writer and actor Stephen Fry Fleabag’s Andrew Scott, singer turned actor Paloma Faith, comedian Lee Mack and indie band Bastille.

Stephen, talking about his upcoming Mythos tour, the first he has done in nearly 40 years, says, “I finally plucked up the courage to do it again.  The last time I toured it was with Hugh Laurie and we were students.  It was a long time ago.  We didn’t have enough material for an encore, so on the way to the next show we thought about what students did including watching TV and the then new Aussie soap Neighbours, so we devised a parody. We didn’t know they had become obsessed with it and at the end of our show we started to sing the theme tune and the place erupted.  It was thrilling to do tours in those days because you didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Revealing that he once considered becoming a priest, he says, “When I was a teenager I thought about it. I love churches – the music and the architecture. I fancied the clothes and I knew I could deliver a fantastic sermon and I even went to talk to a Bishop about it. We decided I would make a wonderful priest if it wasn’t for the one small problem that I didn’t believe in God!”

Andrew, talking about the success of Fleabag and now being famous as the ‘hot priest’, says, “It’s definitely changed things a little bit. Weirdly, it’s actually the husbands and boyfriends that come up to me. I had a strange encounter the other day. I was in the park going over my lines and this little man was just standing staring at me. Eventually he said, ‘My wife really fancies you, can I have a selfie?’ He had a mop in one hand and when we had taken the photo he just carried on staring while making the mop jiggle around. I wondered if the mop was his ‘wife’? It was really weird.”

Asked about appearing in Black Mirror Smithereens, he says, “I am relieved it is out. The whole thing was shrouded in mystery. No one tells you what’s going on and then you’re are sworn to secrecy. You can’t tell anyone, but I told my mum.”

Talking more about his character, he says, “It’s so humiliating that I don’t drive, and I am playing a driver. They basically had to put the car on a skateboard and I had to act driving. It was so not cool.”

Paloma, talking about Fleabag, says, “I’m not shy of an awkward situation and confessed to Andrew when I first met him that I had a bit of alone time with episode five. I had my moment and was very happy! On behalf of anybody that’s got kids, has been in a long-term relationship, thank you from the deepest bottom of my heart!” Lee, interjects, “I haven’t confessed this yet to my wife and I think she might kill me. I committed the ultimate sin and got ahead on the Fleabag box set without her. I then pretended, while watching it with her, that I hadn’t seen it!”

Asked about her new TV series, Pennyworth, Paloma says, “I’ve spent six months playing my character. She’s a baddie, but I feel a great sense of empathy for her. I love her and can’t tell the difference between me and her. She thinks she’s doing the right thing at all times for the greater good and she can’t understand why everyone looks like her oddly and I sometimes feel like that in my everyday life. In my little weird world, I think I am absolutely normal! She’s a bit misunderstood and I very much love her, although everyone else on set, including all the crew, were absolutely terrified of me. Everyone was like, ‘You’re too good at this, it’s scary, where is it coming from?’”

Lee, talking about his film debut in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans, he says, “It’s massive and didn’t realise just how big it is until I was offered the part and my kids said I had to do it.” Excited to see a clip, Lee adds, “I’ve never been in a film before and haven’t seen any of it yet.”

Revealing he has just been commissioned for three more series of his long-running sitcom Not Going Out, he says, “So, now we’ve got to mine more from our real lives. The problem with mining things from your own life is that you then watch it with your wife. So, the guy I write with and I have a rule now that we just blame the other person and say things like, ‘You won’t to believe this, but they also do that thing in bed!’”

Bastille performs Joy live in the studio, before joining Graham for a chat about their new album.

And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Big Red Chair.

The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 7th June 10.35pm.

Pictures are available from Press Association.

Notes to editors – All quotes in this release were said during the recording of the show but won’t necessarily appear in the final version.

Next week (14th June), Graham’s guests include, Madonna, Ian McKellen, Danny Boyle, Hinseth Patel, Lily James and Sheryl Crow.

For further information please contact Mary Collins 07769 670516 or at mary@marycollins-pr.com 

7th June 2019