Graham Norton has found plenty of success across the Irish Sea, setting up base in the English capital, and hosting the wildly successful Graham Norton Show on BBC. But when it came to tying the knot, the Corkonian returned to Ireland for the big day.
The actor said ‘I do’ during the summer, in his native West Cork, and has shared why it was so important to get married there. Explaining how getting married in Ireland allowed his 90-year-old mother Rhoda to attend the celebration.
As he told Australian TV show, The Project: “We had our wedding party near to where my mother lives in Ireland just so she could come. She wouldn’t have been well enough to come to London so West Cork it was. And it made me very happy.”
Graham’s big day, made headlines eventually, but the TV host was very touched with the people of Cork for keeping it relatively on the downlow.
He told The Project, earlier this month: “It was a big party in West Cork, the people were really supportive and kept it all a big secret.
“But people got excited about who might be there, and at one stage there was a ‘sighting’ in the local supermarket of Adele without makeup.”
Of course, Graham and Jonathan had plenty of famous guests including Adele.
It’s believed that Scottish singer Lulu performed for guests at the event, before Panti Bliss took over with a DJ set and then members of the Riverdance troupe took to the stage.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this week, he said married life is going “good so far”.
“It would be awful if it wasn’t at this stage, just a few months in, I’d like to think that even I could manage a few months,” he added.
“I’m from that generation of gays who assumed it was never going to be on the cards. So, one, it’s extraordinary that it can happen, I mean I never gave up hope of finding the one. If it was a surprise, it was a pleasant surprise.”
