I used to love Blind Date, but am not sure about its return as I feel Love Is Blind has filled the void
Holly Willoughby, Davina McCall and Clauda Winkleman are in the running to host the return of Blind Date.
Who can forget the iconic dating show Blind Date, hosted by Cilla Black, which ran from 1985 to 2003? It would seem that the show could be revived as there are rumours that Holly Willoughby, Davina McCall and Clauda Winkleman could be in the running as the new host.
The Sun has reported that “There had been rumours the Saturday night ITV classic was to be revived on the BBC. However, in a surprise twist, the reboot will go instead to global streaming service Disney +.”
When I first heard rumours of a Blind Date reboot, I have to admit that I was initially excited, but I think that was for purely nostalgic reasons and nothing else. If I am being truly honest, although I did love Blind Date at its time, I think I only watched it as genuinely there wasn’t that much on to watch!
Fast forward to 2025 and I certainly don’t miss it. After all, why should I when Love Is Blind more than fills its void and is surely the modern day equivalent of Blind Date? The ITV show Blind Date will be best remembered for its host Cilla Black, and “Our Graham,” or the late Graham Skidmore who was the voice of the show, he passed away at the age of 90 in 2021.
The other iconic element of Blind Date was of course the famous sliding door which apparently is set to return in the reboot. However, in my eyes, the sliding door element (unless drastically changed) is just a precursor to the pods that are now a key part of Love Is Blind.
For those of you who are not familiar with Love Is Blind, contestants spend time in pods to get to know each other without seeing each other’s physical appearances, just like Blind Date’s sliding door enabled a contestant to ask questions to three potential daters and opted for one based on their answers rather than choosing someone because he/she liked what the person looked like.
I do appreciate that not everyone has access to Netflix to watch Love Is Blind, but if the reboot of Blind Date appears on Disney +, not everybody subscribes to that either. Let’s not forget that Blind Date was briefly revived two years after Cilla Black died in 2015.
The brief revival of Blind Date was hosted by Cilla Black’s good friend Paul O’Grady but according to reports, he didn’t enjoy making the first series. Paul O’Grady previously said: "I didn't [enjoy it] the first time round, to tell you the truth, because it was so chaotic, but this time now we're a new set, a new production team, so yeah.” He also added that "It was odd sort of because Cilla, I was so close to her, I found myself turning into her!
"I really miss her, because I spoke to her every day and saw her at least twice a week. She was a hoot, Cilla. She was like my sister."
Although some may argue that just because a reboot of Blind Date didn’t work the first time around, that’s not a reason to try it again with a new host such as Davina McCall or Holly Willoughby. However, I would say that is a reason, but the main reason why I don’t want to see one is that we really don’t need an updated Blind Date in 2025 as the show’s concept has moved on.
For those of you who use the Gladiators argument as in the reboot of Gladiators has worked, I don’t believe just because one reboot has been successful, that doesn’t mean another one will be.
I for now will keep watching Love Is Blind and won’t be watching a new Blind Date at this stage. However I will be open to changing my mind, but believe me, it will take a lot! Watch this space…