Blind Date is Back, and Vicky Pattison is in the frame to take over from Cilla Black as host of iconic Saturday night show
The classic TV show, fronted by the late Cilla Black for nearly two decades, will be back on screens by the end of 2017
BLIND Date is returning after more than 13 years off air, The Sun can reveal.
The classic TV show, fronted by the late Cilla Black for nearly two decades, will be back on screens by the end of 2017.
It is understood that TV host Vicky Pattison, 29, singer Olly Murs, 32, and actresses Georgia May Foote, 25, and Helen Flanagan, 26, are among the names in the frame to replace Cilla.
But unlike the original it will be shown on Channel 5 not ITV after a deal was struck over the rights to the show’s renowned name.
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A source said: “Blind Date is the original dating show and it’s huge news to bring it back.
“It’s a classic format that will be rebooted to make it young, sexy and modern. Expect sparks to fly.
“In an age of Tinder, you have got to earn the right to love on this show.”
The show will be produced by So Television, which makes the The Graham Norton Show and Stellify Media, a firm part-owned by Sony Pictures Television.
The show will appeal to “a new generation of viewers” and while some of the “traditions of the past” will be kept sources say it will also be updated for modern times.
There are likely to be six or eight episodes for the first run of the show - which will air on a Friday night rather than its traditional Saturday slot.
The show revolves around three singletons being asked questions by a member of the opposite sex who chooses then based on their answers alone without seeing what they look like.
The couple then picked an envelope naming their destination with locations ranging from Bognor Regis to the Maldives.
It was cancelled in 2003 after legendary TV star Cilla quit during a live episode after ratings fell to just 2.9 million viewers.
ITV already has dating shows Take Me Out and Meet The Parents and bosses believe letting Channel have one of its famous brands will not damage its own performance.