Graham Norton has suggested that "someone should just step in" as he criticised plastic surgery culture among Hollywood celebrities. The BBC chat show host made the remarks during an episode of his podcast, Wanging On, with co-host Maria McErlane.
Listener's letter sparks debate
The discussion began when the pair read a letter from a listener whose friend had decided to have both a boob job and plastic surgery on her nose. The listener asked Norton and McErlane for their views on the situation.
Maria joked: "Keep your wonky nose out of her business." Laughing, Norton also playfully suggested she keep her "ugly, ill-formed nose out", before turning more serious.
Norton on LA surgery culture
Speaking on the podcast, Norton said: "She told you she was getting a boob job over a year ago. Boobs have not been touched. I think she's just coming up with a shopping list of things she'd like to have done."
He added: "You know, and people do, you know, we all talk about what we'd like to have done, but then don't do it." He noted that ultimately it was the friend's choice, but the listener would have to tell her she looks great "no matter what".
Norton then spoke about plastic surgery in Los Angeles: "You know, everyone in LA is telling each other they all look great. Whereas actually, someone should just step in and go, 'You all look like you've escaped a hotel fire', but nobody says that."
Further comments and reflections
McErlane revealed Norton had aimed another dig at an unnamed person's cosmetic surgery, recalling a quote: "'Looks like some skin has been stretched over a light bulb'. That's a really good image to have in your mind."
She suggested plastic surgery could be "addictive" and added: "Whatever you do to the exterior, you are still the same person inside. And quite often people think that fixing the outside as they see it will somehow fix the unhappiness inside. And it doesn't."
The comments follow Norton's earlier revelation that he was once close friends with Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher, whom he met while filming Ruby Wax's BBC Two series, Ruby. In May, he said on the podcast: "I didn't really care about Star Wars at all, but years later, there was a time where Ruby Wax did this chat show where it was kind of a dinner table and Ruby had people and you chatted to each other."
He explained that Ruby asked him to ask Fisher the Star Wars questions, saying: "And so I did, and from that day on, Carrie thought I was a fan of Star Wars and I never told her that I could not have cared less for Star Wars." This led Fisher to reveal the "whole plot" of an upcoming film to him, despite secrecy around it.
The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One tonight (September 25), from 10.40pm to 11.30pm.
