Blind Date praised by viewers for first ever LGBT pairing
The episode coincided with Pride in a first for the recently-returned series
Rebooted dating series Blind Date has been praised for airing its first ever LGBT-focused episode last night, with the Paul O-Grady-hosted show (taking over from the late Cilla Black from the original series) seeing 29-year-old Celine Dion mega-fan Alice choose between New Zealander Jane, ukulele player Steph and female footballer Sarah for a date.
In the end (spoiler alert!) she chose Steph – and viewers were heartened by the groundbreaking episode of the series (which was timed to coincidence with gay Pride events).
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Lesbian Blind Date ? About time
— Big Jock Knew (@BigJockOfficial) July 8, 2017
“The new Blind Date has been updated to make it relevant for today’s audience,” a Channel 5 spokesperson said of the episode.
“We wanted to be inclusive with our contestants and having LGBT representation throughout the series was really important to us from the outset, alongside maintaining the spirit and warmth of the original and much-loved format.”
And fans needn’t worry, because this wasn’t just a one-off – many more LGBT contestants are set to appear on the programme in the coming weeks, so if you missed last night there’s plenty more to look forward to.
Blind Date continues on Channel 5 on Saturdays at 8.00pm