IT is one of the most nostalgic TV reboots of the year – but I can reveal the return of Blind Date will come with a very modern Love Island-style twist.
Earlier this month I revealed the programme, made famous by host Cilla Black in the Eighties on ITV, was being revived by Disney+.
But it will have a different flavour because much of the show will be spent on a tropical island — just like Love Island, hosted by Maya Jama— where contestants will compete for a dream wedding on the golden sands.
A TV insider said: “This sounds like a radical departure from the old Blind Date, one that definitely has hints of Love Island about it.
“But fans will recall a lot of the dates took place in hot, sunny climes abroad, and producers want to recapture some of the steamy fun, and expand upon that.
“Even the wedding element has hints of the old show, because the dream was always that the dates on the programme would lead to couples tying the knot.”
Cilla was at the helm for 18 years on the show which saw a contestant firing questions at three hopefuls concealed from their view by a wall — which slid back to reveal their chosen date.
One of the hopefuls in 1991 was Amanda Holden.
The TV insider added: “In the reboot, the creators are not entirely dispensing with all of the old characteristics either as there are still plans to incorporate the show’s famous sliding wall and hire a top female host just like Cilla.”
Disney+ is imminently expected to confirm it is reviving Blind Date, though all details have been kept firmly under wraps.
No presenter has signed up as yet but the channel is targeting some big names in British TV, with the main criteria being that they have to be hugely famous women.
Here’s hoping whoever gets the role doesn’t mind getting a bit of sand between their toes in the course of the job.
KATH TAKES FLIGHT
KATHERINE KELLY is back dishing out the drinks . . . 13 years after pulling pints in the Rovers Return.
On Corrie she played feisty barmaid Becky McDonald, while now she’s cabin crew on new Channel 4 thriller In Flight.
Katherine Kelly stars in new Channel 4 thriller In Flight[/caption]
Katherin played feisty barmaid Becky McDonald on Coronation Street[/caption]
Katherine will also be serving up some nerve-racking moments as single mum Jo Conran whose life is turned upside down by crooks.
Through the airline she works for, she finds herself blackmailed into drug smuggling after her son is imprisoned in Bulgaria for a murder he claims he didn’t commit.
The six-parter, set in Bangkok, Bulgaria, Istanbul and London, wrapped filming this spirng and is set to air later this year.
STEPHEN IN TECH LESSON
STEPHEN FRY wants to make a futuristic TV drama series where e-mails, TikTok and SnapChat are “uncool” and people return to basic communication in “an unplugged life”.
The Celebrity Traitors star told podcast Extraordinary Life Stories: “I was planning to write a TV series in which this kid comes to a school and completely changes it.”
The pupil asks the teacher how to submit his essay as he doesn’t have a computer so can’t email it.
Stephen continues: “All the other (pupils) think ‘Who is this ridiculous child?’
“But then he starts influencing everybody. They think this is quite a fun way to live.
“We’ve come to a tipping point now where the uncoolest thing in the world is Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok.
“We know they’re harmful, but they are also vapid and shallow and silly.
“Imagine an unplugged life using all these fabulous old tools. You’d be the coolest people.”
Bizbit
THE BBC has un- veiled two new podcasts. Double Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams will host the LGBT Sport Podcast, which begins today.
And 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle tells the stories of the people who helped change space exploration. It launches on July 14.
SEX JOKE BIT MUCH FOR WILL
BRIT actor Will Sharpe came over all prudish about a sex scene in upcoming Netflix rom-com series Too Much . . . well, compared with the Americans on set.
He cringed as US actress Megan Stalter, who plays the lead role in the show about an American woman coping with a new life in London, joked with the show’s US creator Lena Dunham after the X-rated action.
At this week’s launch of the show, which drops on July 10, Lena said: “One of Meg’s favourite things to do is to ask you after a take: ‘What face were you making during that?’
“One time it was right after a sex scene and Meg was like: ‘What face were you making during that?’
“And I heard Will’s mic, like: ‘Jesus f***ing Christ, Meg!’”
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