Jonathan Ross has accused Graham Norton of stealing all of his talk show guests from him and says his BBC rival gets the big name guests because they are more "protected" on his show.

Jonathan Ross has accused Graham Norton of stealing all of his talk show guests from him.

The 52-year-old presenter has seen his 49-year-old rival secure interviews with some of the world's biggest stars and he claims they opt for Graham's show because they are more "protected" from risqué questions in his environment.

He said: "At the moment it's tricky. I think Graham gets first bite of film guests.

"Some stars prefer his show over mine because they're less protected on my programme. If they go on Graham's, three guests all sit together on the sofa.

"He recently had Jude Law on his show who could hide behind fellow guest Dame Judi Dench. On my programme they can't do that."

'The Graham Norton Show' airs on BBC One on a Friday night while 'The Jonathan Ross Show' goes out on ITV on a Saturday night and BBC sources claim Jonathan's ratings are suffering because his programme has a "lazy" format.

One told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "Jonathan's questions seem to get more desperate the more he struggles in the ratings.

"Too often he has people on who share his own agent, Addison Cresswell, the man who also happens to produce 'The Jonathan Ross Show'. It's all a bit lazy and it shows."