Blind Date (British game show)
British dating game show with a blind-choice format.
Blind Date is a British dating game show first produced by London Weekend Television (LWT). It originally ran on Saturday nights from 30 November 1985 to 31 May 2003 on ITV, hosted by Cilla Black, and became a cultural phenomenon with peak viewership of 18.2 million. The show returned in 2017 on Channel 5 with Paul O'Grady as presenter, and in 2025 it was announced that the series would be rebooted on Disney+, with Maura Higgins confirmed as host in 2026 for a 2027 launch.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Dating game show
- Presenter
- Cilla Black / Paul O'Grady
- Announcer
- Graham Skidmore / Tommy Sandhu / Melanie Sykes
- Theme Music Composer
- Laurie Holloway
- Composer
- Jonathan Sorrell (1989–1993) / Guy Forrester and Maire Morgan (1993–1999) / David Arch and Mark Campbell (1999–2002) / Big Head Music (2002–2003) / Philip Pope (2017–2019)
- End Theme
- Paul Masterson (1996–1999)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Num Series
- 18 (ITV) / 4 (Channel 5)
- Num Episodes
- 373 (ITV; inc. 12 specials) / 33 (Channel 5)
- List Episodes
- List of Blind Date (British game show) episodes
- Location
- The London Studios (1985–2003, 2017–2018) / Television Centre (2018) / The Maidstone Studios (2019)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The series ended in 2003 when, during a live episode on 4 January 2003, Black announced she was quitting. Production halted, and despite potential replacements, the show was reportedly cancelled after ITV was refused permission to make format changes by Columbia, the US company that owned Blind Date. The show returned in 2013 for a special, then was revived on Channel 5 in 2017 with Paul O'Grady. That revival ran for three series (2017, 2018, 2019), featuring both mixed and same-sex couplings. In 2025, a reboot for Disney+ was announced, with Maura Higgins confirmed as host in 2026.
Reader's Guide
Blind Date's significance lies in its long-running popularity as a Saturday night staple on ITV, defining a generation of British dating shows. Hosted by Cilla Black, whose scouse accent and catchphrases became iconic, the show peaked with 18.2 million viewers in the 1980s and won a BAFTA in 1995. Its format—where a contestant chose a date based solely on answers to questions—was widely imitated internationally. The show's decline in the early 2000s reflected changing viewer tastes, but its legacy endured through revivals and specials. The 2017 Channel 5 revival updated the format to include same-sex couples, and the upcoming Disney+ reboot signals continued cultural relevance. The show also influenced later ITV dating series like Love on a Saturday Night and Take Me Out.
Did You Know?
- An unscreened pilot was made with comic Duncan Norvelle as presenter before Cilla Black was chosen.
- The show's theme music, composed by Laurie Holloway, strongly resembles the jazz standard 'Soft Winds'.
- During a live episode on 4 January 2003, Cilla Black announced her resignation without telling the production crew.
- The 2017 revival on Channel 5 featured both mixed and same-sex couplings, unlike the original series.
More in British television series revived after cancellation 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced