Graham Norton has said his new big prize money reality TV show The Neighbourhood is the biggest thing he has ever been associated with.
The Irish chat show host, author and comedian will present the new ITV programme, which airs next year and which sees six households compete for a £250,000 while living in a lakeside housing development in Darbyshire.
Speaking on the Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday morning, Norton said, "It’s mad. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever been associated with.
"It’s these houses around a lake in Darbyshire and real households move into them and they live there 24/7, being filmed all the time, and they also have to play these epic challenges and at the end one of the families wins a quarter of a million pounds.
"It’s life-affirming. None of the households is the villain. Equally, it was competitive in a way I didn’t expect it to be at the beginning but there are only six households and you’re close to the prize from day one. There was a bit of people turning on each other but I really liked all the households and I wasn’t expecting to."
Speaking about is annual summer stay in West Cork, where his mother Rhoda still lives, 62-year-old Norton, who married his husband Jonathan McLeod in 2022, said his visits became a big part of his life when he bought his own house in the area.
"That was about 15 years ago and now we go back as much as we can because it’s a lovely part of the world. I love driving in and the tyres are on the gravel and you turn the engine in the car off and everything just disperses and it’s so weightless. It’s gorgeous.
"I’m a lazy version of myself when I’m there. I do less."
Norton will again host the annual table quiz at the end of July and he will be taking part in the West Cork Literary Festival to speak about his new book, Frankie.
"I believe your former colleague Ryan Tubridy will be staggering down the road to interview me so that will be interesting." he said.
