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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to wonder why Graham Norton needs to do ads?

167 replies

queenceleste · 28/04/2026 15:48

The guy is surely fairly minted by any national standard. He never stops working.

I just think, if you don’t need the money - why would you do ads? It’s not as dignified as all his well paid work, surely.

Maybe he is using the ad funds for some charitable endeavour. But I hate to see it when they don’t need to do it and I definitely think slightly less of him. Pure, weird greed.

OP posts:
Weeelokthen · 28/04/2026 18:19

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 18:13

It's useful to have a thread where all the unambitious have kindly identified themselves.

? Care to expand?

Weeelokthen · 28/04/2026 18:18

GenerallyConfusedAboutGenes · 28/04/2026 17:36

I actually feel the demented sheep observation from @Weeelokthen was more spot on tbh!

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Thanks, 😜x

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 18:18

fundamentallyauthentic · 28/04/2026 18:16

What a weird response.

Show quote history

Not really once you read the full thread.

fundamentallyauthentic · 28/04/2026 18:16

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 18:13

It's useful to have a thread where all the unambitious have kindly identified themselves.

What a weird response.

shshs · 28/04/2026 18:14

I always think this about Hollywood famous people that do this, I suppose perfume is generally permissible and probably adds to their personal brand, but I’m always surprised to see the likes of Courtney Cox advertising things (excluding ethical brands you can assume they align their values to).

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 18:13

It's useful to have a thread where all the unambitious have kindly identified themselves.

Lurleene · 28/04/2026 18:13

DrummondStick · 28/04/2026 16:16

I wonder this every time I see George Clooney or David Beckham advertising something. It doesn’t bother me but I really do wonder why they do it!

George Clooney uses the Nespresso money for good. He funds a satellite that monitors the border of Sudan to keep an eye on a warlord.

AuntChippy · 28/04/2026 18:09

Big names like Graham Norton can command huge figures for very little ‘work’ making ads. I bet he gets well into 6 figures. Good for him, I say.

Lisa Rinna as an example, was said to have made $2 million from her Depends campaign. Worth it in her case for the embarrassment factor of advertising incontinence underwear.

Cyclistmumgrandma · 28/04/2026 18:05

Richard Briers used to say the voiceover work paid the school fees, allowing him to do far less well paid theatre work.

User7435977 · 28/04/2026 18:05

I can’t watch anything at all with Judy Dench in it now I’ve seen those dreadful adverts she does. The acting was so bad that now I can’t take her seriously in anything l

ClaredeBear · 28/04/2026 18:04

It’a work, it’s probably really well paid. Perhaps he’s aware of just how fickle the judgemental public can be so he’s taking it while he can.

Globules · 28/04/2026 18:03

My thought was "weird, haven't seen GN advertising before, now he's on all of them"

But I've noticed, that's for sure.

I'm reminded of a question asked of Stephen Fry on The Assembly.

You've been on adverts for
Long list of companies

Is there anything you won't sell yourself for?

fundamentallyauthentic · 28/04/2026 18:00

Dontcallmescarface · 28/04/2026 16:59

Because his line of work is not stable. Yes, he and others may be earning a great deal right now but a few years down the line who knows? You take the work when you can get it.

Like others, I’ve wondered the same thing about why they’re going certain projects. It’s only an assumption but with some celebs who’ve been working a long time I wonder how much is enough? When they’ve paid off mortgages, invested tons of money? Just enjoy being with your friends and family, basically. So I get that freelance work isn’t always there and won’t always be but for the rich and secure, I often think why bother?

CurlewKate · 28/04/2026 17:59

ElenOfTheWays · 28/04/2026 16:01

I'd find it hard to think less of him than I already do.

Ooh-what’s he done to upset you??

Forthesteps · 28/04/2026 17:55

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 15:51

But I hate to see it when they don’t need to do it and I definitely think slightly less of him.

And similarly @queenceleste I hate to see it when people judge for others how much money they need to earn before they should stop.

You have decided he "doesn't need" to do it.

Similarly, if you worked in retail or a similar style of job, I could say to you "don't go for the overtime - you don't need it when you have plenty to pay the bills and pay for your car" etc.

It's all relative! Income , expenditure, it's all relative.

If he wants extra income on top of his broadcast salary, he will have his reasons. Maybe he pays for family or friends or he wants to continue charitable giving while living comfortably.

His money, his job opportunities, his choice.

YABVU.

It's only relative up to a point IMO. Noone can possibly spend that much.
Your analogy fails as retail staff earn a pittance.

Fupoffyagrasshole · 28/04/2026 17:53

It’s probably super easy - a day or 2s work for him? And he gets paid loads

why wouldn’t you do it!

easy money !

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 28/04/2026 17:46

Same reasons Jennifer Aniston did shit comedies after Friends, Michael Jackson did Pepsi ads. Trying to stay relevant/in the public eye and a fuckton of money. Even big Golden Age Hollywood stars did ads, but that was usually in their contracts.

GenerallyConfusedAboutGenes · 28/04/2026 17:36

JacquesHarlow · 28/04/2026 16:14

Definitely what you call a lucky break as I doubt her career would have spanned that long and had many more hits.

Nah sorry the 'opinions' on this thread are astounding.

"A lucky break"...?

Jess Glynne has sustained a dozen years in a strong career in the music industry...

but remember (and I'm sure you won't) that she had already vocalled on two number 1 records in 2013.

That's two years before Jet2 holidays.

I don't know what "sounding like smoking 20 a day" has to do with anything. If that was a criteria, Dua Lipa would have had no chance.

Show quote history

I actually feel the demented sheep observation from @Weeelokthen was more spot on tbh!

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 28/04/2026 17:31

You only have to look at how many celebrities from the 60s and 70s (who were, by most people's reckoning, earning a fortune) died with hardly anything.

Gardenimp · 28/04/2026 17:25

I think some celebrities (no idea about Norton or Dench) can spend money in a way that would be completly alien to most people.

NoCommentingFromNowOn · 28/04/2026 17:25

People always want more. If you are homeless you want a room. If you have a room you want a flat. Then a terrace. Then detached. Then something else. Bigger. Better. Bigger than their’s. Nicer area. The overwhelming desire to be more.

There’s a very nice Instagram account I follow which is just….be happy with what you have and small pleasures in life.

It’s must be awful to have no control over your desires like that.

keepincool · 28/04/2026 17:22

Maybe Judi Dench doesn't have a great pension, or maybe she's taxed to the hilt? Maybe she likes to work even in old age as it's all she knows? She has a degenerative condition which has affected her sight and balance and can't read scripts. If she's known for some years that things would get worse who could blame her for doing an advert that pays well and could help with any medical or care costs that she needs.

Typingonkeyboard · 28/04/2026 17:20

Easy, quick work for great money…I think most of us would!

REP22 · 28/04/2026 17:15

HeadDeskHeadDesk · 28/04/2026 16:00

I ask myself this every time I see Judi Dench doing that Money Supermarket ad. I mean really Jude? You? Has it really come to this?

I also very recently heard Deborah Meaden doing some radio advert for something, I can't even what it was now, I think it was an electricty provider or something equally dull. But I remember thinking she was a strange choice as the product/service had no obvious connection to her or any of her fields of expertise and interests. She's absolutely minted. I can't think what possessed her to bother with that.

One of my friends was in an RSC production with Judi Dench back in 2004. She said that she worked a lot in films and ads because it meant she could comfortably afford to continue working in theatre, which was her real passion, but often poorly-paid by comparison.

I don't begrudge them their earnings. It's a fickle business. I used to go out with an actor who earned a five-figure sum for a single advert, but then was only able to get repertory theatre work for months afterwards. And he struggled to get home insurance if he put "actor" down as his profession.

I get your point. But maybe they have a lingering fear of what it was like to be a struggling actor and the notion that it might all fade tomorrow, never to return. Or they just want to fill their days and this is what they are offered.