The Graham Norton Show

Joining Graham on his sofa are British actor turned Hollywood star James McAvoy, national treasure Joanna Lumley; top comic John Bishop; and dancing Italian Nancy Dell'Olio; With music from the Arctic Monkeys.

James McAvoy says his X-Men super powers were rubbish and talks about the dangers of beefing up, Joanna Lumley reveals she stays slim by not waking up her stomach and Nancy Dell'Olio announces she is concentrating on an entertainment career with a new TV show.

On the success of X-Men First Class, James says, "It went really, really well. You never know what those sort of movies are going to be like when you're in them and then the director puts something together which was quite good fun in the end." Revealing his disappointment in his character's powers he says, "I was the only one in X-Men who didn't get to do X-Men stuff. My powers were rubbish."

Asked if there are going to be any more movies - 'perhaps' as Graham jokes, 'X-Men Premium Economy', James says, "Yes, I think so. The director called me the other day to talk about story ideas, but I'm not 100% sure. It hasn't been green-lit."

Describing his new film, Arthur Christmas, as "A really good Christmas movie that you can watch again and again", James is reminded by Graham that he has in the past dismissed 3D as "As a waste of time and money." Feigning embarrassment and backtracking on his previous comment, he says, "Shooting a movie in 2D and changing it to 3D is just a way of getting people into the cinema and making them a few quid more and that is really naughty. This movie is designed to be 3D and is very good."

Describing beefing up for films such as Wanted as "Weird", James says "There is too much eating of meat and drinking of protein shakes, which leave you on set, shooting a scene in a car for three days, with flatulence. So you're in the car and for a large proportion of that time Angelina Jolie is in the car with you. Eventually after a day and half you have to say, 'I'm sorry it's not my fault you just got in this car just after my protein shake said hello.' Luckily, she has a good sense of humour and a terrible sense of smell!"

Asked if she has a fitness regime for keeping her trim figure, Joanna reveals a rather unusual approach, "I don't, but I don't think I eat as much as other people. I quite often don't have breakfast and I never have lunch. I find it helps not to wake my stomach up because if I had a good big breakfast, I would be ready for a snack at 11 and then a three-course lunch, then I'd be ready for tea, then a cocktail and then an enormous dinner. Also, I have very low blood pressure so as soon as I have eaten something I have to go to sleep so what I do is eat hugely in the evening and go straight to bed - I am fun!"

Expressing his disbelief in her slimming method, John Bishop says "So does your stomach not know you're awake? I used to go to the gym but realise now I have been wasting my time, all I've got to do is not tell my stomach I'm awake!"

Talking about the upcoming Christmas special of Absolutely Fabulous and asked by Graham if it is easy being Patsy again, Joanna says, "It was strange, there we all were and none of us looks any different, except perhaps for June Whitfield, who looks a little bit younger. The script by Jennifer Saunders is brilliant again so we all just slipped into it."

Describing his recent Comic Relief experience playing Robbie Williams in 'Fake That', as "Brilliant", John says, "I was there when Catherine Tate - who was playing Jason Orange and looked like Jason Orange - was talking to Jason Orange and said to him 'Maybe we should have a coffee, can I get your number.' And he said 'Yeah.' Now they are supposedly seeing each. It must be odd fancying someone that looks like you, but I think good luck to them, they are both lovely people."

Joining Graham and his other guests later in the show, Nancy Dell'Olio chats about Strictly and her celebrity lifestyle. Asked by Graham about what she actually does, she says, "I am now concentrating on entertainment but I have done deals and networked around the world."

Talking about Strictly, Nancy says, "I really enjoy it but think I was wise to say no to it in past years. It's a very intense, full-on experience, but I love it." Describing Anton du Beke, her professional partner on the show as "My future husband", she says "He has great style and manners and we have a great relationship. We make great TV." And asked how long she thinks she will be in the competition, she says, "My public says whether I win or not but I probably am not a great dancer."

Talking about what she will do after the series ends, she says, "My life is quite busy with a few things, I'm writing two books and I am preparing my TV show." Refusing to be drawn further on the TV show she says "I'm probably doing it, but I am not going to say more."

Arctic Monkeys perform Suck it and See live in the studio.