The Strictly Come Dancing and Traitors star, 53, took on the top job of the BBC talk show this week while Graham, 61, is undertaking a stand-up comedy tour in Australia.
Introducing the show, Claudia offered her apologies to the studio audience and those watching on at home.
‘I am so sorry Graham isn’t here. To be honest nobody is more livid than me. That is the horrendous news. The brilliant news is that we have excellent guests,’ she said.
Claudia then went on to introduce this week’s guests – Rob Beckett, Toby Jones, Saoirse Monica Jackson and Chris Pratt.
Settling into the hot seat, the host said she’d received ‘extensive notes’ from Graham and was told to ‘just chat’ for a bit.
While tuning in, many viewers shared what they thought of Claudia taking on hosting duties.
‘Claudia Winklefringe is hosting #TheGNShow 👍 👍’ user PutTheTVOn posted on X.
‘Loving Claudia on #GrahamNorton looking fabulous as ever,’ Janet shared.
‘Eh why doesn’t Ms Claudia Winkleman have her own talk show in the first place may I ask? #TheGNShow’ Niall questioned.
Meanwhile another referenced the Where Is Lorraine account, joking: ‘Graham Norton did not host his own show this evening, with Claudia Winkleman stepping in. #GrahamNorton has hosted 19 episodes out of 20 (95%) this series. Claudia has hosted 1 episode.’
Graham’s long-running show launched in 2007 and tonight marked only the second time he hasn’t presented it.
In 2019 Jack Whitehall filled in while Graham presented the BBC’s coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest.
When Claudia appeared as a guest on the show in January, Graham revealed: ‘Claudia does have another little job coming up. At the end of this series, I’m popping off to do a tour of Australia.
‘My seat is going to be filled for one week only by none other than Claudia Winkleman,’ Graham confirmed, with Claudia interrupting the applause to say: ‘I apologise.’
Next week this season will wrap up with a compilation episode of the highlights of the current 32nd season of the show.
It will then take its annual break before returning in the autumn.
The Graham Norton Show is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
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