Paul O’Grady on return of Blind Date: ‘Cilla Black should be here, not me’

The presenter has confessed he felt he ‘shouldn’t be doing’ the show 
New host: Paul O'Grady has replaced Cilla Black
Channel 5

Paul O’Grady has revealed the “shock” he felt at taking over from his late friend Cilla Black when he first presented the new series of Blind Date.

Black, who died in August 2015 aged 72, hosted the popular dating programme for nearly twenty years from 1985 until 2003, and O'Grady is now heading up the revived version.

Despite his initial feeling that he should not be in Black’s place, O’Grady said he was reassured by her family and friends that she would have wanted him to be doing it.

The 61-year-old told Radio Times: “It was a shock at first when I heard the music, and they said ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host, Paul O'Grady’.

Looking for love: Paul O'Grady with one female hopeful
Channel 5

“I thought 'This isn't right, it's so synonymous with Cilla, she should be here, not me’.

“I felt like I shouldn't be doing it. It was her show.”

He added: “But then I spoke to her sons and lots of people who knew her and they said ‘You have to do it, because she'd want you to do it for everyone.’”

O'Grady said that Black was “very down to earth, and very, very funny”.

The comedian and TV personality said there is a “definite skill” to being Blind Date's presenter, “because you're not interviewing celebrities, like I used to”.

He said: “You're interviewing the public, so they're not as confident. You have to be easy on them.

“I don't send them up because they're sitting there on the stool, and the last thing they need is for me to devour them, so I'm very avuncular with them, I'm very kind. I'm like a brothel madam, really.”

The biggest and best TV shows of 2017

1/10

Blind Date airs on Saturday June 17 at 7pm on Channel 5.

Additional reporting from Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in