IRISH CHAT SHOW HOST Graham Norton will replace Jonathan Ross on BBC1′s flagship Friday night chat show. Norton had been favourite to get the gig and the announcement ends months of speculation as to who would replace Ross.

The Sun is reporting that Norton will begin his run on October while a source close to him said he was over the moon. Graham’s new show is said to be quite similar to The Graham Norton Show which runs on Monday nights. The deal is part of Norton’s two year, £4m deal with the Beeb.

Ross, who’s signed a deal with ITV to present a chat show likely to go out in Saturday nights after X-Factor filling a role once occupied by Michael Parkinson.The deal is said to be worth £1m to Ross, a big drop from the £6m a year he was said to be on at the BBC.

The final Tonight with Jonathan Ross goes out on BBC on Friday with a line-up which features David Beckham and Hollywood star Jackie Chan.