3 out of 4 for Date revival

There were a few questions running through my mind as I sat down to watch Channel 5’s relaunch of Blind Date on Saturday night. Will it ever be as popular as in its heyday? Will Paul O’grady prove a worthy successor to Cilla Black? Will it feel really dated? And will it discover the next Amanda Holden? The jury is only still out on the last of those four. Let’s just say I firmly believe there could only ever possibly be one Amanda Holden and leave it at that. There’s no way Blind Date will be as popular as it was back in the 90s but I doubt Channel 5 is expecting it to be. Paul O’grady did enough to suggest he was a great choice – and will be even better once he’s worked out how far he can push the innuendo and the mickey taking. As for Blind Date looking dated, of course it did. Luckily, that was all part of this relaunch’s charm. Nothing will ever top the look of horror/delight on the contestants’ faces when that screen slides back to reveal their date. As Paul said, dating has changed a lot in the past 14 years. So have dating shows. Love Island may be a big success for ITV2 but it’s still far too grubby for me. I’ll take Paul O’grady’s innocent innuendos about Brazilians, ping pong balls and eight-inch beards any day over contestants having sex on telly on a show offering a huge cash prize to the winners.

HOST O’grady