The Graham Norton Show - Series 10, Episode 4 - Cliff Richard, Alan Sugar, Micky Flanagan, Kelly Rowland - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)

Joining Graham on his sofa are evergreen pop star Sir Cliff Richard; star of The Apprentice, Lord Alan Sugar; top comic Micky Flanagan; and X Factor judge Kelly Rowland, who performs Down for Whatever.

On Frankie Cocozza being sacked from The X Factor, Kelly Rowland says, "He is a very young man and I feel so bad but I am really excited about Amelia coming back, she is amazing. It was hard letting her go, so hard for the judges to make that decision."

Asked if there is a rift between her and Tulisa, Kelly says, "No. I love Tulisa but we did have a little bit of a tiff because she went against one of my girls." Defending Misha, she says, "She is not a bully. Far from it, she is a sweetheart and I'm really pleased to be working with her." And, asked if she thinks she would be invited to Tulisa's wedding if she was getting married, Kelly says, "I hope so, but she would have to invite me. I would invite her to my wedding."

Congratulated for being such a hit on the panel and asked whether her career is in the UK now, Kelly says, "No, I've just come back from the US and I'm really happy I can do both. It's a blessing to be so far away from home and to feel so at home. I really appreciate all the love I've had here."

Asked if she will be back as a judge next year, she says, "We'll see. I don't know."

Admitting he only sometimes watches The X Factor, Sir Cliff says, "I think it's one of the best things that ever happened because there are people that come out of that show who, two weeks before, you could be shopping in a supermarket with. It gives people a fantastic opportunity. Even the losers sound to me like unbelievably great singers."

Asked about his success and longevity, he says, "Most of the time I find it hard to believe. When The Shadows and I first kicked off we thought we might be one-hit wonders."

Denying he has any plans to retire, Sir Cliff says, "I'll stop when I want to stop but while I feel I still have something to offer and people are prepared to come out and see a concert I'll keep doing them. I like doing them, I have a great time. I plan to keep working when I want to work."

On maintaining his youthful physique, he says, "What made me lose weight in the early days was when one of the characters in Coronation Street said, 'I love that chubby Cliff Richard,' so I went on a diet and I've kind of been on a diet ever since."

Joining the line up on the sofa, Lord Sugar talks about his own "clever idea" of a diet, revealing, "When I was in America I was given a small fork to eat clams and thought I would embark on eating the main course with it. It took me ages to get through the food by which time my brain was telling me, 'You're full up.' So it's the 'Little Fork Diet', it takes ages, and people look at you as though you are mad but you eat less."

Revealing he is not much of a fan of pretentious restaurants, he says, "If I'm not happy, I write the message on the plate using the food. Mash potato is quite good but if you've got some string beans you can short circuit it rather than have to sculpt the words out of mash."

And on The Young Apprentice, he claims, "I'm not really tough with anyone in the boardroom, it's the way the programme is cut. Me being pally and nice and funny doesn't put bums on seats. I do like to mix humour into things, but it ends up on the cutting room floor."

Asked if he is able to spot the winner from week one, Lord Sugar says, "You think you can but as the process moves on you start to see different sides to people. Someone you think might be a complete and utter plonker in the early stages suddenly rises."

Kelly performs Down for Whatever live in the studio.

And finally, to the delight of Lord Sugar and Sir Cliff, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy members of the audience brave enough to sit in the red chair. Lord Sugar says, "I often wish I had a red chair in my board room!" while Sir Cliff rejects one story teller with relish, declaring, "I've always wanted to be bad."