Graham Norton left 'mortified' after failing to recognise huge star he'd worked with

Graham Norton confessed to a cringe-worthy moment when he failed to recognise an American actress he'd worked with multiple times, leaving him "mortified".

The chat show host shared the embarrassing tale on The One Show on Tuesday (23 September), explaining to presenters Roman Kempand Lauren Laverne how his memory lapse had left the star unimpressed.

"This is a terrible story," he admitted to the hosts. "So, basically, I went to a musical, and Juliet, and I was sitting there. The woman playing the nurse, I was thinking, 'She's very familiar, I'm sure I know her'.

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"She was so familiar. I thought... Have I worked with you? Am I in something with you? I can't think, I can't think!"

The story took another twist when Graham was invited to meet the cast after the show, leading to an awkward encounter with the actress, who turned out to be Keala Settle, reports Wales Online.

"Then, afterwards, we were asked to go back and meet the cast. So, this woman is walking towards me, and I'm going, 'How do I know you? I do know you, don't I?'" he continued.

With a grimace, Graham confessed: "Her face, not so smiley now. It was Keala Settle, from The Greatest Showman. She'd not only been on my chat show twice, she'd been on my radio show to promote and Juliet The Musical."

Roman and Lauren found the story hilarious, with Roman burying his head in his hands as Graham chuckled at his own embarrassment.

He concluded: "I mean, I had every advantage here. I still messed it up, I was mortified. It was so embarrassing!"

Keala, the American actress and singer, is best known for her role as Lettie Lutz, the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman. She also graced the stage in Wicked as Miss Coddle and was a contestant on The Masked Singer UK as Air Fryer last year.

She's also recognised for her portrayal of Norma Valverde in Broadway's Hands on a Hardbody, and Becky in the 2016 Broadway show Waitress.

In 2022, she took to the stage in the UK as Angelique/Nurse in & Juliet, before taking the production to Australia in 2024.

The One Show airs on weekdays on BBC One from 7pm