Prince William’s The Graham Norton Show appearance: Robert Irwin left red-faced over cheeky comment
The pair appeared on The Graham Norton Show’s red couch, which Irwin tried burying himself in after a cheeky comment from the royal.
Robert Irwin was left red-faced after a cheeky comment from Prince William in his late-night talk show debut.
The Prince of Wales joined Australians Irwin and Cate Blanchett, and Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham, for a special episode of The Graham Norton Show.
His appearance had been kept under wraps, with audience members gasping before erupting into cheers as the future King walked onto the set about 11 minutes into the episode.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The episode, which aired on the BBC on Friday night (Saturday morning Australian time), was filmed to promote Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, an environmental initiative he launched in 2020.
Conversations covered a range of topics, but one comment from Prince William left Irwin burying his head in his hands.
The six words that made Irwin blush
When host Graham Norton brought up Irwin’s Bonds campaign, the conservationist protested the photos being shared.
“Oh no, no, no,” he said.
Prince William and Waddingham led a chorus of “show them” before an image of the 22-year-old sitting in a backyard wearing Bonds underwear with a python around his neck was shown, which was met with applause from the audience and those sitting on the couch.
“I can’t believe I’m looking at this with Prince William,” Irwin said.
A different image from the underwear campaign with a snake flashed on the screen.
“That’s a bit too much, that one,” Prince William joked.
Defending himself, Irwin said that he wanted to add a “conservation element” to the underwear commercial.
“I believe in bringing the message to an audience that might not ordinarily be interested in wildlife,” he said.
Blanchett chimed in with a quick quip at her fellow Australian.
“I’m taking my snake for a walk,” she joked, making inverted commas with her fingers.
Irwin continued to defend his racy photos.
“But seriously, what matters to me is the snake in that image, you know, it’s the fact that wildlife was showcased,” Irwin said.
The audience giggled as Prince William, Blanchett, and Waddingham bit their lips to stifle laughter.
An image of Irwin with a huntsman spider splashes on screen and the conversation pivots to spiders before a cheeky comment from Prince William.
“I’m still thinking about your python,” he said to Irwin, which was met with uproarious laughter.
The 22-year-old buried himself in the famous red couch in response.
The royal takes a dig at Travis Kelce
Prince William also revealed the story between a viral photo captured at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London in June, 2024.
In the selfie taken backstage, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William were joined by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
Norton asked if the royal understood the significance of the image, given it was the first public photo of the now-married couple.
“I wasn’t until recently. I hadn’t appreciated the significance — and actually, I was trying to move him out of the photo,” Prince William joked.
“But Travis kept coming back in, and I couldn’t work out why he kept coming back in.
“I was trying to move him out so it was just me and Taylor and the children.”
Swift herself shared the selfie on her Instagram with the caption, “Happy Bday M8!” in reference to the future King’s birthday.
Surprise career ambition
Prince William also revealed that he wanted to be a policeman as a child before he pivoted to a different career ambition.
“You’ve been born into your job. As a child, did you fantasize about doing other things?” host Norton asked.
“Did you kind of think ‘When I grow up I might not be King, I’ll do this’?”
After taking a moment to think, and laughing off a suggestion from Irwin about “wrangling crocodiles”, the future King made a surprise revelation.
I went through a phase where I wanted to be a DJ, which didn’t go very well.”
The revelation was met with laughter from those sitting alongside him on the couch before he revealed what his DJ name would have been.
“I came up with a name, I was called DJ Xara with an X, it wasn’t good,” he said.
Waddingham agreed, calling the name “rubbish”, while Blanchett queried where the X could be found in the name and the pair crossed their arms in an X formation.
“It rapidly became very uncool,” Prince William conceded.
When Norton asked if he had ever DJed at parties, he said he “never got that good”.
