Graham Norton has shared a chilling recollection of a horrifying event from the 1980s when he was brutally stabbed and “left for dead.”
The beloved presenter, 61, discussed the traumatic experience, stating that “no failure compares to dying,” underscoring the gravity of the attack that took place on the streets of London.
In an unearthed interview from January, the Irish-born host, known for his popular BBC talk show, bravely opened up about the 1989 knife attack, during which he “lost half [his] blood.”
Describing the “worst moment of his life”, Norton recalled: “Getting stabbed in 1989. I lost half my blood.”
Speaking with The Telegraph, the comedian, who was in his third year of drama school in London at the time, explained how the following morning in hospital led to a sobering question from a nurse about informing his parents.
“The bad moment I remember – because when it’s happening, is all just trauma – but then the morning after, I was in the hospital ward and I remember a nurse came up to me and said, ‘do you want us to contact anyone? Do you want us to contact your parents?’
“And in my head, I was thinking, ‘well, I don’t want to worry my parents but equally, if I’m going to die, they’d probably like to come and say goodbye to me, because they’d be annoyed if I didn’t tell them.’
“So, I said to the nurse, ‘am I going to die?’ And she went, ‘Eerrrrm…’ and I was like, ‘don’t pause. This is not the place to pause. This is quite serious.’ So that was bad,” he added.
At the time, Norton admitted he didn’t fully comprehend the seriousness of his situation and the fact that he had been on the brink of death. but the incident “put everything into perspective” and “changed my life for the better”, reminding him not to sweat the small stuff.
The resurfaced interview comes as his beloved BBC series returns to screen this Friday with Lady Gaga, Demi Moore, Colin Farrell and Richard Ayoade on his couch with Jack Savoretti as the musical guest.
