Graham Norton praises West Cork people for keeping wedding 'secret'

GRAHAM Norton has today praised West Cork locals for their help in keeping the details of his much-coveted wedding 'a big secret.'

West Cork's best-kept secret got out in July, when the Ahakista resident married his long-term partner in a big celebration in Bantry house.

Speaking on Australian TV programme The Project, Graham thanked locals for keeping tight-lipped about the big day.

'We had a big party in West Cork, and everyone was really supportive and kept it a big secret,' he said.

It’s a mark of how highly-regarded the 59-year-old presenter and author is in his native West Cork that everyone respected his wishes for privacy both in the lead-up, and after the celebrations.

Graham has always emphasised his desire for his now husband to remain out of the spotlight.

.@grahnort just got married in his favourite place, West Cork and we find out all about why he loved it so much.#TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/WLT3QvNIRj

— The Project (@theprojecttv) September 26, 2022

Celebrity guests, such as Lulu and Panti Bliss, attended the celebrations, and there were rumours that Ed Sheeran and Elton John may have entertained guests at the after-party.

However, according to Graham, there were some 'sightings' which were too good to be true.

'At one stage there was a sighting in the local supermarket of Adele without makeup,' he quipped.

The popular TV host has been doing interviews to promote his latest novel, Forever Home, which is out later this week.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said that he never thought he would get married due to his sexual orientation.

'I'm from that generation of gays who assumed it was never going to be on the cards,' he said. 'It's extraordinary that it can happen.'

The honeymoon phase is still active for the Bandon native, who said that his marriage is 'going good so far.'

'It would be awful if it wasn't at this stage, just a few months in, I'd like to think that even I could manage a few months!' he said.

He also praised the recent TV adaptation of his best-selling debut novel, Holding, saying that he was delighted that it was filmed on location in West Cork.

'I found it fascinating to see what other people did with those characters,' he said. 'What was lovely was that the one thing they couldn't change was West Cork.

'It was filmed in West Cork. Those are the streets that I was writing about. Those are the houses, the places, that beautiful coastline. It's kind of a love letter to West Cork.'

Forever Home is another small-town mystery set in Ireland, which has been described as 'effortlessly readable.'

Considering the success of the television adaptation of Holding, could we see West Cork on our screens sooner rather than later?