Since The Graham Norton Show premiered in 2007, fans have lined up for a chance to sit in the Red Chair.
The humour discussion show premiered in 2007 and soon gained a dedicated following, with several well-known names returning for repeat performances throughout the years.
While the show’s major focus is on Graham speaking with celebrities, the famous long-running Red Chair part features average people sharing their stories with the host, his guests, the studio audience, and those watching at home.
However, they must ensure that the narrative is hilarious or crazy enough to keep people’s attention, as Graham, or occasionally his visitor, has the ability to pull a lever and propel the guest (and the chair) backwards.
Graham Stuart, the show’s co-creator and executive producer, has now given some behind-the-scenes details about what occurs when the Red Chair flips.
He told Metro.co.uk how it all worked.
‘I stress that in order to have something like that, it has to be properly engineered with correct people around it,’ he said.
‘It is essentially a special effect, and it has specialist people around and we’re careful about who we allow to go on it.
‘They tip back, they are righted again and removed, and they go off happy, now worrying whether that story will be in or out of the show because it’s not guaranteed.’
For those who have watched the show, the stories told can sometimes be rather ridiculous, but Graham claims they have never had to delete a narrative due to this.
‘We’ve never cut because of content. We’ve cut for sometimes legal reasons and, you know, you have to be careful if people identify people. We’re always very careful about that.
‘But we believe, and because the chair comes at the end of the show and is playing well after midnight, we believe our audience are sophisticated and they understand what the show is.
‘Also, this is an important thing about our relationship with the audience. Our audience understand what it is that works on a red chair. They, they’ve watched so many of them. And I think they know if you’re going to say something that could end up with you in court, that’s not gonna work.’
Graham did, however, remark that while working on a documentary on the segment’s production, it was revealed what kind of stories were most frequently reported.
‘We were looking at the trends and, you know, bodily functions are the most shared ones and if you’re offended by then, well, then you’re not human because these are all human things,’ he laughed.
One personal story shared during the episode occurred in 2015, when a man sought to obtain a date with a woman he was interested in but was rejected on national television.
After Jessica cancelled a date with Thomas to watch Kylie Minogue on the programme, Thomas returned to the Red Chair to try his luck again.
Despite his attempts, she seemed to have the ick and instead urged the singer to pull the lever, sending Thomas flying.
Graham reflected on that memorable moment, saying what happened was ‘real television’.
‘When she made the decision, you could feel the tension in the studio and Kylie was shocked she was then implicated. That was great TV.’
Graham said he didn’t know what happened to the possible suitors after that, but he was quite sure the first date wouldn’t materialise.
‘But he became incredibly famous and was trending on Twitter. He was very proud but his claim to fame was being rejected on TV.
‘Although he was a good-looking guy and clearly had a good sense of humour. I am sure he is doing fine!’.
The Graham Norton Show Channel is now available on Samsung TV Plus. New episodes of The Graham Norton Show air Fridays at 10.40pm on BBC One.
Source My Celebrity Life.