On this week's Graham Norton Show show (Friday 1st October) Graham welcomes rock icon and Foo Fighters front-man Dave Grohl, Paralympic double-gold-medallist Kadeena Cox, pop star, mother, and kitchen disco queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor, comedy superstar Greg Davies, with music from Jack Savoretti and Nile Rodgers.
Dave, chatting about his new book The Storyteller, says, “We had made an album and a world tour for the 25th anniversary and then everything shut down. I’m not good at doing nothing so I started an Instagram page and rather than take pictures of myself in a thong in a mirror, I started writing short stories about the incredible experiences I’ve had and then I realised we were going to be here (in Lockdown) a while, so I decided to write a book.”
Talking about Nirvana, he says, ‘The three and half years I was in the band was a lifetime. So much changed in that time, not just in music but in the world. It was a beautiful time, a renaissance, and an emotional awaking when people felt it was okay to be themselves. It was amazing.
“When Kurt (Cobain) died, and it all ended I didn’t know what to do with my life. I couldn’t listen to music anymore because it hurt too much so I tried to escape and went to Ireland to soul search. I was trying to figure out my life when I picked up a hitchhiker who was wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt and I thought, ‘Even in this remote place I can’t outrun life’, so I went home and started over with the Foo Fighters. I needed to survive and get on with life.”
Kadeena, asked about competing in Tokyo with no cheering crowds, says, “We were really lucky because the British team was a big team. I was really in the zone and once you’re on the start line you can focus on nothing else but yourself.”
Talking about changing from track to cycling, she says, “It was by accident – I had a stroke and was diagnosed with MS and after that I had really bad balance and every time I’d try to run I would fall over. Sitting on a bike was much easier and a year later I was world champion!”
Asked how she coped mentally when she was given her diagnosis, she says, “If I dwell on things too long, they don’t go well so within 48 hours I was raising funds to get me back into sport. I just took the news and ran with it!”
Showing off her gold medals, she says, “They are heavier than you’d realise!”
Sophie, talking about her memoir Spinning Plates, says, “The initial idea was to write a series of essays but everything just tumbled out of me. I really loved it, it’s a nice process. Now people can read it, it’s really nerve-wracking.”
Asked about some of the dark stories in the book, she says, “It was empowering being able to write about those things on my own terms. I have this weird sense that my 17-year-old-self and I are high-fiving each other. I’ve gone back to that girl and given her a voice and it feels great.”
Talking about her Friday night Lockdown kitchen discos, says, “I got so used to the virtual community that I always had that weird feeling when I put the room back together, that it wasn’t messy considering how many people came round!’”
Greg, talking about his new BBC series The Cleaner, says, “The original cult German TV show was brilliant, and I thought I would steal it all wholesale, but it didn’t translate so I had to re-write a lot of it.”
Asked about all the famous faces that appeared in the show, he says, “I was amazed at the people we got. No one was as surprised as me when the likes of Helena Bonham Carter said yes.”
Jack and Nile perform Who's Hurting Who live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat about working together.
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 30th September. Also available on BBC iPlayer.
Next week (8th October) Graham’s guests include Jodie Comer, Andie MacDowell, Billy Porter, Daisy Haggard, and Texas.
Graham Norton picture: BBC/So Television/Christopher Baines
