Kiwi's red chair story gets Graham Norton's approval

  • 19/01/2016
Kiwi's red chair story gets Graham Norton's approval

It seems appearing on British talkshow host Graham Norton's famous red chair is part of the average Kiwi OE these days.

Christchurch man Brad Baxter, who lives in London, is the latest to fulfil his dream of being in the chair and has bragging rights after having made it through his story in front of the much-loved host and his star guests.

Baxter told Norton, Friends star Matthew Perry, actresses Miriam Margolyes and Gemma Arterton and singer Jack Savoretti his story about an encounter with an old woman in Europe during a rainstorm.

"I was in Italy, in Naples, I was walking down the street and it was in a lightning storm and there was a heck of a lot of rain coming down.

"A very, very kind old lady offered me shelter in her house and I went in, she made me a coffee and offered me a change of clothing," Baxter said.

"It was when I was in the room next door trying to put my leg through the trousers when I tripped over and knocked a bookshelf and the urn on the top of the bookshelf came crashing down. I was still wet from the rain and as the urn hit the ground the ash went all over me.

"To make matters a little bit worse, as I managed to pull the pants up around my waist and started to clean up the mess I had made, I saw a photo of the lady's husband – or what looked like her husband – and he was wearing the same pants I had just put on."

Baxter's story got a round of applause from the audience, the show's guests and Norton.

The segment at the end of each episode sees people try to impress Norton and his guests with a personal anecdote. If they succeed they're free to walk away from the chair, but if not the chair is flipped – sometimes mid-story.

But despite being allowed to walk, Baxter insisted the chair be flipped.

After initially mishearing his name as "Bread" because of his accent, Norton made a joke about how many Kiwis end up in the red chair.

"They're always from New Zealand. New Zealand must be empty, the airport is deserted, they're all queuing for the red chair."

The episode aired in Britain on Friday, but isn't due to screen in New Zealand until February 12.

3 News