Amanda Holden appears to CONFIRM that she will host Blind Date reboot… 30 years after she looked for love on the iconic show
Three decades ago she was a fresh-faced teenager looking for love on Blind Date.
Now Amanda Holden appears to have confirmed she will step into Cilla Black’s shoes and host her own game show for love-hungry singletons.
The presenter, 50, has revealed she’s working with the BBC on a ‘special’ project – and realising her dream.
Love on TV: Amanda Holden appears to have confirmed she will step into Cilla Black’s shoes and host her own game show for love-hungry singletons
‘It’s always been a dream of mine to have my own dating show, so I’m excited that I’m working on something special with the BBC at the moment,’ Miss Holden told Woman’s Own magazine.
Miss Holden, who was on Blind Date as a contestant in 1991 when she was 19, was rumoured to be in talks with BBC producers last month.
‘Execs are thrilled to have Amanda on board. She is perfect for a dating show because she has a great sense of humour,’ an insider told Daily Star Sunday.
‘Everyone working on the show thinks she has the potential to be just like Cilla was years ago on Blind Date. There’s a lot of excitement about this.’ The new light-hearted entertainment programme is expected to feature single women who are presented with a line-up of potential love interests for them to choose from.
Way back: Miss Holden, who was on Blind Date as a contestant in 1991 when she was 19, was rumoured to be in talks with BBC producers last month
The rejected suitors will then be dropped through a trapdoor, in a similar format to 1990s dating show Man O Man, hosted by Chris Tarrant.
For Blind Date in 1991 – her first television appearance – Miss Holden wore a low-cut black jumpsuit and revealed that her ideal man would be Hollywood star Jack Nicholson, who is more than 30 years her senior.
She applied after seeing a poster for an audition and subsequently admitted that she hadn’t actually been single at the time but had been engaged. That relationship ended and in 1995 she married comedian Les Dennis – she was 24 and he was 41.
In 2000 she had a much-publicised affair with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey, and she divorced Dennis three years later.
Miss Holden married record producer Chris Hughes in 2008. They have two daughters, Alexa, 15, and Hollie, nine.
Stepping into Cilla’s shoes: The presenter, 50, has revealed she’s working with the BBC on a ‘special’ project – and realising her dream
While she is now best known for being a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and a presenter on radio station Heart FM, she has also acted in TV shows including Kiss Me Kate, Cutting It and Wild At Heart.
Blind Date aired on ITV on Saturday nights from 1985 to 2003 with Miss Black, who also fronted Surprise Surprise, as host throughout. At its peak it drew 18million viewers.
Paul O’Grady hosted a rebooted version on Channel 5 in 2017, featuring mixed and same-sex dating.
Other British dating game shows have included ITV’s Take Me Out, presented by comedian Paddy McGuinness, which aired from 2010 to 2019, and Channel 4’s Naked Attraction, hosted by Anna Richardson.
Many strings to her bow: Amanda is best known for being a judge on Britain’s Got Talent
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