Blind Date will be returning to our screens with a brand new host, more than 20 years after ITV’s Cilla Black-fronted programme went off air. The dating show, which has been revived a handful of times over the years, is moving to a streaming service for the first time, with Disney+ producing and airing the episodes. Fresh from her stint on The Traitors US, Maura Higgins will be on hosting duties when the new series arrives next year.
While Disney+ has promised that Blind Date will be “reimagined for contemporary audiences – bigger, better, and bolder than ever”, it will be sticking to the original format, which saw contestants choose between three potential dates hidden by a wall. Higgins made her small screen debut with an (iconic) stint on the 2019 series of Love Island, reaching the final alongside Curtis Pritchard. The 35-year-old went on to host Love Island USA: Aftersun before appearing on the Stateside version of Celebrity Traitors earlier this year, where she yet again delivered a golden reality television moment.
Later this year, Higgins will appear in another US version of a British favourite – Dancing with the Stars. Angela Jain, Head of Content, Disney+ EMEA, has said the Irish star is “the perfect match for our version of Blind Date”. New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial.
Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. With Cilla Black on hosting duties, Blind Date first aired on ITV in 1985.
At its peak, the Saturday night programme pulled in a whopping 18.2 million viewers per episode. The programme brought its presenter, who was already a chart-topping singer, to an even wider audience and turned many of her frequently used lines into popular catchphrases. Black hosted the show until it was taken off air by ITV in 2003.
The broadcaster eventually settled on Take Me Out as a replacement in the primetime Saturday night slot, with Paddy McGuinness fronting 11 series between 2010 and 2019. Meanwhile, ITV aired two one-off Blind Date specials in 2006 and 2013, before Channel 5 tried to revive the show in 2017, almost two years after Black’s death at the age of 72. That version was presented by Black’s longtime pal and fellow Liverpudlian Paul O’Grady – but it was sadly axed after four series due to struggling ratings.
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