Claudia Winkelman could soon swap overseeing murders on The Traitors to helping singletons find love in a revived version of Blind Date. The 52-year-old presenter has been targeted by television producer Dan Baldwin - who is married to 42-year-old Holly Willoughby and recently helped the
BBC revive Gladiators - to helm a new version of the iconic dating show. Blind Date originally ran on ITV from 1985 until 2003 and was hosted by the legendary singer-turned-presenter Cilla Black - who passed away in 2015 at the age of 72. There are now reports that Blind Date could be revived following the successful relaunch of Gladiators on the BBC and Wheel of Fortune on ITV. TV producer Dan wants to bring the show back and air it on the BBC with Traitors and Strictly star Claudia as the host. Speaking on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, Dan said: "You always look at old shows that are no longer on television. You are always coming up with new ways of bringing back a show. Cilla Black hosted the original run of Blind Date from 1985 until 2003 ( Image: LWT) Shoppers praise Frankie Bridge's 'flattering' £25 H&M trousers that keep you cool "There is nothing wrong with that because those shows were great for a reason. As well as coming up with new ideas, we’ve always got one eye on what could come back and what could be a hit like Gladiators is. Another one that you’d like to see back, Blind Date, are we ready for that? What a Saturday night that was. I’m thinking Blind Date with Claudia Winkleman on BBC1, how about it?" It's difficult to predict if Blind Date can succeed without the late Cilla Black as host - or the late Graham 'our Graham' Skidmore who was the show announcer. Even Cilla's good friend, the late Paul O'Grady - who died last year at the age of 67 - couldn't make the show succeed when Channel 5 tried to revive it in 2017. While the show was met with reasonably positive reviews from critics, the show failed to find an audience and was quietly axed. A source told the Daily Star in 2020: "After a number of series on Channel 5, it’s been decided that it’s time to ditch it. Execs loved reviving such an iconic show, but it hasn’t gone as well as they hoped. Everyone involved is sad to see it go." The show had been co-helmed by model Melanie Sykes who provided the voiceover on the dating series. Blind Date’s original run came to a screaming halt in January 2003 when Cilla sensationally quit live on air during the first-ever live broadcast version of the show. Blindsiding show makers, the star told her audience: “Over New Year I thought a lot about what I wanted to do in 2003, and decided that it was the right time to move on from Blind Date. “All good things come to an end and the show deserves to finish on a high and be remembered as a success. Now I’m looking forward to a year filled with exciting new challenges. I have had great fun for 18 years and would like to thank everyone involved in the show.” Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat ,
Instagram ,
Twitter ,
Facebook ,
YouTube and Threads.