Graham Norton fears 'the end game' is near as he addresses health worries

Graham Norton is celebrating his 62nd birthday today (Friday, April 4) – and he's not shying away from sharing his thoughts on getting older.

The much-adored TV presenter, who has grilled many a star on his couch and recently bagged success as a writer too, still steers the ship of over at . However, in a heart-to-heart with RTE last year, he opened up about life in his 60s.

The Eurovision commentator admitted: "Well, you know, 60s is a thing! 40 I was a bit freaked out by because I didn't know how to be 40 and then I got over that. Then 50 was just more 40. But 60? There's no way, you can't pretend, 60 is just old. It is, it is old. I am an old person."

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also touched on the increasing worries about health issues and a growing awareness of mortality now being part and parcel of his reality, reports .

Ever the joker, he said on The Late Late Show: "The thing about being 60 is, it is fine. But now I think that everything is out to get me, do you know what I mean? Like if you are 18 and there is a funny twinge in your elbow, you just think, 'Ah, what the hell was that?'

"Now you think, 'That will kill me, that is the start of something awful, it will kill me'. You are slightly more aware of the end game at 60."

In a touching snippet earlier during the chat, he shared his joy at being able to make his dad, who battled Parkinson's disease, proud.

He recounted that success eluded him until his mid-30s, detailing his time as an unemployed actor while poking fun about his foray into stand-up comedy.

Nevertheless, the late 90s marked his breakthrough in television with the launch of So Graham Norton on .

Graham, who has since tied the knot with filmmaker Jonathan 'Jono' McLeod, fondly recalled: "He [his father] was ill, he had Parkinson's, but what was great was I did my Channel 4 show, I had found some success, so he got to see that and I was so pleased."

Continuing his trip down memory lane, Graham revealed how his mother managed to bring his ailing father to London to watch an episode of his show early in its run, giving them the opportunity to rub shoulders with Grace Jones and Judith Chalmers behind the scenes.