Filming for the ‘Blind Date’ reboot has been temporarily cancelled.
Paul O’Grady – the new host of the revamped dating series – reportedly threw the show’s shooting schedule into chaos last week after he lost his voice.
An insider told The Sun newspaper: "Episodes were due to be filmed last week but at the last minute Paul was deemed too ill. The audience was already at the studio waiting for filming to begin and the contestants were ready but then they were sent away. They were offered the chance to come to a subsequent recording but a lot of them were very frustrated. It doesn’t bode well."
Although the 61-year-old presenter’s sudden illness has wreaked havoc already, a spokesperson has confirmed that the filming dates will be rescheduled for the future.
It was announced a few months ago that Paul had agreed to front the programme in honour of his late friend Cilla Black, who presented the series from 1985 until 2003.
He said: "The reason I want to do it is I don’t want it to be messed up. I might mess it up but then it’s my fault and I’ll give it my best shot.
"’Blind Date’ was funny and that’s what we need to get back to. The laugh we’ll have with some of the contestants … And doing it means I’m sort of close to her again.
"I can hear her now, ‘Come on, Paul.’ I’ll morph into her. I know I will. I can see it happening. Her son Robert is all for it and he said to me, ‘If Mother was alive, she’d be over the bloody moon.’"
Originally the show was aired on ITV but the reboot will be broadcast on Channel 5 and is expected to return to screens in the next couple of months.
Paul O’Grady loses voice before Blind Date recordings
