When Covid hit, pretty much every TV show was forced to make major format changes, and The Graham Norton Show was no exception.
As the pandemic dragged on, the BBC chat show went through several incarnations.
Among the biggest changes was when Graham filmed the show from home, in a specially-designed room that was made to look like his regular set, with guests appearing one at a time via video-link.
Asked whether he was happy with how the lockdown version of his show went down, Graham said: “Initially, we did a terrible back-bedroom series that nobody liked, but it was a way of keeping people employed.”
He added: “It’s funny the glimpses that guests give us of their house over Zoom.
“Some celebrities looked like they were being held hostage in a bunker. Others were happy for us to see their grand pianos and rolling lawns.”
When the show eventually returned to an actual studio, there was no audience and the star guests were seated in individual red chairs at a safe distance.
Eventually, the audience returned but those individual red chairs remained.
Until now.
Yep, that famous red sofa will be back for the new series, which kicks off on Friday 30 September.
Can you actually miss a piece of furniture that much? It appears so.
No news yet on whether that fruit bowl and obligatory pineapple will also be returning, but we’ll keep you posted.
The first guests with the honour of sitting together again on Graham’s big red sofa will be Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek, Hollywood scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, It’s a Sin star Lydia West and Robbie Williams, who will also be performing his latest single, Lost.
The Graham Norton Show returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Friday 30 September at 10.40pm.