Fans of Will & Grace most likely remember a hilarious guest appearance from Madonna in the original series… but it's not clear if Madge actually has any recollection of it.
The Material Girl popped up in the NBC sitcom back in 2003, during a time when Will & Grace was attracting huge guest stars like Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher and Matt Damon on the regular.
But, 15 years later, Debra Messing and Eric McCormack have shared an anecdote on The Graham Norton Show about Madonna making it very obvious on set that she had no clue what she'd got herself into.
"Madonna didn't have a clue who we were and she could not remember our names so I told her mine was Rachal," Messing remembered.
"She said, 'Really? That is my Kabbalah name', I said like, 'How about that?!' so for the rest of the week she called me Rachal. When she finally realised that wasn't my name she sent me roses with a note written to 'Dear Debra'."
"The same thing happened to me," McCormack interjected. "She sent flowers and a note saying, 'If my husband would let me, I'd tattoo your name on my arm'."
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Another of the show's most famous guest stars was Sir Elton John, who fit in only slightly better with the cast when he turned up to McCormack's house for dinner.
"I grew up with [Elton's husband] David Furnish so that's how Elton ended up on the show," McCormack explained. "David called one day to say he was in town so I invited him to dinner and he brought Elton with him.
"I was trying to be cool but had had just enough wine to ask him to christen our new piano. When he asked what he should play I thought, 'I'm not going to be a schmuck and ask for 'Rocket Man', so I said, 'I've Seen That Movie Too' from Yellow Brick Road and he looked up at me and said, 'I don't remember that song'!"
Will & Grace continues each Friday night at 10pm on Channel 5 in the UK. Over in the US, the sitcom returns on March 1 on NBC.
The Graham Norton Show continues next Friday (February 16) at 10.35pm on BBC One with a trio of Oscar nominees, Margot Robbie, Allison Janney and Daniel Kaluuya, as well as Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander and Camila Cabello.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
