Presenter tells of ‘shock’ he felt in filling late friend’s Blind Date shoes
Paul O’grady has told of the “shock” he felt when he first presented the new series of Blind Date, taking over the reins from his late friend Cilla Black.
Black, who died in August 2015 aged 72, hosted the popular dating programme for nearly two decades from 1985 until 2003, and O’grady is now fronting the revived version of the show.
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: “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.’”