Graham Norton’s mea culpa.
Graham Norton has apologised for what he described as ‘throwaway’ comments about same sex couples performing together on Strictly Come Dancing. Historical comments he made on the subject surfaced this week and caused a significant brouhaha on social media, as many were surprised at the sentiment.
‘Oh God. This is entirely my own fault,” Norton tweeted on Thursday evening. “Ages ago gave a throwaway comment to a journalist who wanted me to slag off Strictly. Clever clogs remembered and now look!! So sorry. Big up @NicolaAdamsOBE and her partner!!’
Oh God. This is entirely my own fault. Ages ago gave a throwaway comment to a journalist who wanted me to slag off Strictly. Clever clogs remembered and now look!! So sorry. Big up @NicolaAdamsOBE and her partner!! https://t.co/9w03314FEU
— graham norton (@grahnort) September 30, 2020
He followed the tweet up with: ‘And to people messaging me to say they agree – please stop. Everyone dancing on that show brings pure joy. Let’s all enjoy a beautiful thing.’
The much-loved BBC presenter was responding to comments he made to Best magazine prior to the announcement that Nicola Adams would have a female partner this year. As part of the interview he commented:
“It does kind of muddy the waters for the judges…as you have people who can be openly gay on that show, I don’t particularly need to see a man dancing with a man. I understand the reason the Strictly bosses might do it is coming from a good place, but it does kind of muddy the waters for the judges.
“If you’ve got two partners who can do lifts and men’s bodies are different shapes, how would that work? I don’t think it’s a homophobic thing. You want to be able to compare like with like.”
