Jack Whitehall wins rave reviews as he stands in for Graham Norton
The comedian guest-presented the BBC chat show while Norton prepared for Eurovision
Jack Whitehall had big shoes to fill when he signed on to guest present the Graham Norton Show. The BBC1 chat series is wildly popular with viewers – and the celebrities it features – but for the very first time, its host was absent from a recording as Norton prepped for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Instead, it was Whitehall tasked with stringing together a jovial conversation between a sofa of disparate celebs unlikely to have met before.
The line-up included actors Gwendoline Christie and Luke Evans, fellow comedian and children's book writer David Walliams, footballer Peter Crouch and up-and-coming singer Sam Fender – and Whitehall more than pulled it off. So much so that some viewers were tipping him for his own rival talk show...
https://twitter.com/TomMunns1/status/1129504401624903680
https://twitter.com/cerysheard_/status/1129520522872672258
https://twitter.com/naynacherry/status/1129517382857297925
https://twitter.com/Johnh8H/status/1129513688212353024
Kirstie Allsop and Alex Jones were won over:
https://twitter.com/KirstieMAllsopp/status/1129513280391778307
https://twitter.com/MissAlexjones/status/1129513961051906049
As were plenty of other viewers, some a little surprised by just how much they enjoyed seeing Whitehall at the wheel...
https://twitter.com/matthewmc1989/status/1129663190890160129
https://twitter.com/Tricky_2018/status/1129513928063619072
https://twitter.com/jodibwithoutane/status/1129512192078962689
https://twitter.com/PresenterAnt/status/1129685812055105536
Of course, it's not the first time Whitehall has demonstrated his hosting abilities – he won praise from viewers and critics alike for presenting the Brit Awards for the past two years.
He's also found some success in Hollywood, appearing in Mother's Day and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and bagging roles in Jungle Cruise (opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Amazon's upcoming Good Omens.
But if he ever needs someone to bring him back down to Earth with a bump, he can always rely on his father...
https://twitter.com/fatherwhitehall/status/1129497764918960129