Graham Norton Announces Live On Air He’s Quitting The Slot

More musical chairs in the UK’s national radio ecosystem after popular presenter Graham Norton announced live on air that this will be his last weekend presenting his popular Saturday and Sunday shows on Virgin Radio.

Norton – who is also the longtime host of a BBC primetime TV chat show named after him, attracting A-list stars to his sofa – made the announcement during his very first link on Saturday morning, saying only: “It is my final weekend of shows here at Virgin Radio.”

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The presenter has been with the station since 2021, when he followed fellow radio presenter Chris Evans out of the doors of the BBC and into the commercial station. Norton added on air that he won’t be leaving Virgin completely.

In a statement released to Deadline, Virgin Radio Content Director Mike Cass said: “Graham Norton has delighted Virgin Radio’s weekend listeners for the last three years. He steps back from the weekend show with our thanks and with our delight that he remains part of the wider Virgin Radio family. His are big boots to fill, and we’ll be announcing the owner of those feet in the weeks to come.”

So no word on who will be replacing him in the weekend slot, nor what he will do next – if anything. As well as his TV show, Norton has in recent years become a bestselling author and recently married. He also spends a lot of time in his native Ireland, where he owns a home.

However, sharp-eyed radio followers have already speculated that, following the sudden death of veteran presenter Steve Wright last week, there is a vacancy in presenting Wright’s much-loved weekend show Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2.

In addition to his radio and TV chatshow duties, Norton has for the past decade commentated for the BBC on the Eurovision Song Contest. Last year, he co-presented the show when it was staged in Liverpool, when the UK took the place of host nation for the previous winners Ukraine.

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