Comedian Bill Bailey has revealed that it was a brush with near death that made him finally get his 'skullet' cut off. 

On this week's Graham Norton Show Bailey told the whole story: "I was on a hiking holiday in the summer and at one point I was leaning over a barbeque and my hair caught on fire.  I think the universe was telling me it was time.”  Adding, “The other day someone came up to me and said, ‘You look just like Bill Bailey, but younger.’ 

Bill also talked about his new book My Animals, and Other Animals: “It is a memoir of sorts but not in the traditional way.  It is episodes through my life told about the animals I have encountered.

Recounting one of the anecdotes in his book he says, “I was doing a documentary about jaguars in Brazil and got to meet a jaguar on an army base.  I was nervous and when I asked for any tips on how to behave around the animal one guy said, ‘always approach from the front.’ I thought it seemed a bit aggressive but thought okay.  Then, when I was walking towards it, he said, ‘Oh, sorry, never approach from the front.  Sorry, my English is not so good!’”

On this week’s show, alongside Bailey Graham welcomes The Boss himself Bruce Springsteen, six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, American star Vanessa Williams and US singer songwriter St Vincent.

Bruce, talking about his new documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, and asked if, after 50 years he still gets nervous performing, he says, “I get anticipatory anxiety.  It’s not quite the same thing as nervousness.  It’s a natural feeling to have before you go out to challenge yourself.  If it wasn’t there, I think there would be something wrong with you and you couldn’t do the job.”

Talking about his recent 75th birthday, and asked if he has any plans to retire, he says, “You’ve never seen a hearse with luggage on top so that will be it for me.  I am going to keep going until it’s over.”  

And on the upcoming film Deliver me from Nowhere about his life in the early 80s, he says “It’s a lovely cast and I am involved a little.”  Asked whether Jeremy Allen White (the actor playing him) will be lip-syncing, he says, “This is not easy to do because you can’t do an imitation, you have to do a personal interpretation.  It’s difficult but he is a great actor and sings pretty good.”  

Amy, talking about her new comedy horror film Nightbitch, says, “Our director said  it’s a comedy for women and a horror for men.’  I think it is a real, accurate reflection of a woman’s experience of motherhood and loss of identity.  My character taps into a wild, feral side of herself and begins to comprehend she might be turning into a dog, so she surrenders to it in order to find a different joy in her life and parenting outside societal expectations and norms.”

Talking about the perils of working with animals, she says, “The trainers had set the scene with the dogs with very calm voices, but when I came out in a zombie like state, one of the dogs was like, ‘Not cool’ and started a revolt and they all came at me. It was fine.  I was raised in Colorado so know the whole protective thing from hiking where there are bears!”

Vanessa, talking about staring in Elton John’s West End musical The Devil Wears Prada, says, “When I was added to the cast Elton added couple of songs for me, which is fantastic.  He is a hit maker, so it is wonderful to be able to bring his music to life.”

Asked about her characterisation of Miranda Priestly, she says, “It is an iconic film, and it is an honour to do what Meryl Streep did so brilliantly in the film. I bring the character to life with singing and dancing. People that loved the film will not be disappointed.”   

Reminiscing about her time as Miss America, she says, “I was the first black Miss America, which was a huge deal.  I’m from New York and grew up in a multi-culture environment so I had no idea the impact it would have within the United States. I created history and my life completely changed.  Being seen as a beauty queen negated any intellect or talent I had and it took me a good 10 years to prove myself on Broadway because nobody took me seriously.  It was a struggle.”

St. Vincent performs Big Time Nothing from her current album All Born Screaming, before joining Graham for a chat.

The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 18th October 10.40pm. Also available on BBC iPlayer.

Next week (25th October) Graham’s guests include Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Saoirse Ronan, and Eddie Redmayne.

Graham Norton Picture credit: BBC/So Television/Christopher Baines