I’m a keen fan of the BBC’s Graham Norton Show and have always found it curious that so many Kiwis seem to turn-up in the red chair. Is it just that I am more aware of the Kiwi storytellers or is something else going on? So I did a little bit of digging.

About 500 people have sat in the red chair to tell their story. Unsurprisingly, as the chart below shows, the English have featured the most  accounting for about 50% of all storytellers (the show is filmed in London after all). Good old New Zealand is in third place with 9% . So, yes, the Kiwis are keen, I haven’t just imagine it!

A pretty impressive turn-out which becomes even more impressive when you look at it through the per capita lens (i.e. per head of population). New Zealand regularly appears at the top of Olympic medals league tables when the number of medals per capita is considered and, as the league table below confirms, it’s the same with the red chair. No other country come close with 10 Kiwis in every million having taken a turn in the chair dwarfing the 7 from Northern Ireland and 6 from the Republic Ireland and five times England’s measley 2 (and they live around the corner).

Ireland and Northern Irelands’ lofty position can perhaps be explained by the host’s Irish roots – Graham was born in Dublin and grew-up in County Cork. But why do New Zealanders top the list by  a country mile?

As Daniel Taylor, New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner for the UK and Ireland explained “The show is incredibly popular in New Zealand so a turn in the red chair is an effective way for Kiwis on OE [overseas experience] in the UK to get a message home to their friends and family.  We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we enjoy out time in limelight, it’s a natural fit really”.

And his message to all Kiwis who grasp the nettle and put themselves forward for the red chair ordeal? “You’re part of the New Zealand community taking over global entertainment one chair story at a time. So remember you’re a representative of our great country, so do you best!”