Graham Norton has launched a passionate defence of Claudia Winkleman after backlash to her new BBC chat show. 

The Claudia Winkleman Show debuted on the BBC on Friday evening to an audience of more than 1.4million - but it received a 'mixed' reception, with critics describing it as 'mess', a 'bore' and a 'huge mistake'.

However fellow chat show host Graham, whose company So Television produces Claudia's sit down, has insisted she 'nailed it'.

Graham, whose own show usually occupies the same Friday night BBC1 slot, leapt to her defence. 

'What Claudia did was the Claudia Winkleman show, and that's what she's supposed to be doing,' he told the Mail's Eden Confidential at the Michael Josephson Farewell Charity Ball in Manchester. 

'She shouldn't be trying to be me. She should be trying to be Claudia, and she nailed that.'

Fronted by The Traitors icon Claudia, the new chat show takes on a similar format to The Graham Norton Show with a moodier, after hours vibe. 

Overall, critics were pleasantly surprised by Claudia - who has taken over from Graham for seven weeks in a new London studio.

While the show fell flat with viewers, who claim Claudia could 'never replace' Graham Norton, there were a mixture of feelings from the critics. 

Nick Hilton of the Independent gave the show three stars for the 'classy, witty affair that has brilliant potential' but added it 'might need a few tweaks'.

Making clear they 'love Claudia', The Guardian's critic says Graham is just too difficult to replace before branding the chat show 'a mess'.

Giving the show a poor two stars, Lucy Mangan writes: 'Claudia has been faster and wittier than at least three fifths of her guests'. 

Carol Midgley for The Times pens: 'Claudia is not a comedian but she is funny (she made a joke about breastfeeding her dog). She should relax more and have the confidence to be herself. And, dare I say it, be a bit less nice.

'This is a job that is more difficult than it looks. Claudia, despite her self-mockery and nerves, put in a respectable first shift'.

Anita Singh at The Telegraph says the show was 'quite random, reassuringly nice. A lovely way to end the week, but not yet appointment-to-view TV'.

Meanwhile, viewers claimed the chat show is 'nowhere near as good as Graham Norton' - and even Claudia's charisma can't save it. 

Taking to social media as the first episode aired on the BBC, viewers shared their many criticisms of the show, including that they hated the recorded audience noise. 

Another criticism for viewers were the that experts planted around the audience primed to chime in when each celebrity told anecdote made for awkward viewing, with one person saying: 'So flat, even the guests look bored.' 

Elsewhere some people thought the interviews were unstructured and 'all over the place', adding that the celebrities appeared to talk over each other. 

And even the set took a beating, with viewers claiming the lighting, furniture and outfits were all too dark and merged into one.