Graham Norton says he will never bring back the "mean" jokes he made on his Channel 4 show because people would be "horrified" by them now.

Graham Norton

The 55-year-old comic made his name as the king of the late night talk show with his programme 'So Graham Norton' which ran from 1998 to 2002 and was famous for his sexual innuendo gags and outrageous audience confessions.

But Graham wouldn't be comfortable doing that style of comedy again because he thinks viewers would find the gags inappropriate.

Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, he said: "I think the world has moved on, we did a lot of jokes on that show that I wouldn't do now, it's mean. People were happier to laugh at that stuff then, I think if I came out did those jokes to an audience now they would just wince they would be kind of horrified. Things may go in a loop and that style of comedy may come back but for right now it's not appropriate."

Graham understands that people are more easily offended now by jokes and he thinks that working comedians are less inclined to try and shock their audience because they want to have successful careers.

The TV funnyman - who is the host of 'The Graham Norton Show' - said: "I don't know if comedians compromise now, I think it's just doing your job. If you want your gig to do well then you do the jokes that people like."