Christopher Biggins is furious about Blind Date revival
Christopher Biggins is furious that his late friend Cilla Black’s best-known show is being revived without her.
Singer and TV host Cilla Black fronted the ITV dating show for nearly two decades, from 1985 until 2004.
The TV legend, who was integral to the original series, passed away in August 2015.
But despite her death, it was announced this week that a revival of the show is planned, with Graham Norton’s So Television set to bring it back for a new run on Channel 5.
However, one long-time friend of Cilla’s, Christoper Biggins, is not happy about the news.
Complaining to the Sun, he said: “Let’s bring back old-established things which were great because Cilla Black made them great… it’s very depressing.
“I don’t think they should do it.”
He confirmed: “I won’t be watching it.”
The classic dating format saw one picker pitch questions to three potential dates, all of whom were out of view.
After the questions were answered, he or she would choose their partner to go on a blind date with, only then seeing their face for the first time.
The show inspired many modern dating formats, including Channel 4 series Naked Attraction, in which participants choose a ‘blind’ date after checking out their naked bodies.
Mr Biggins landed in hot water himself last year.
The gay panto star was removed from the Celebrity Big Brother House after a string of offensive comments, with an alleged anti-Semitic joke going unbroadcasted.
Disparaging comments he made about bisexuality were broadcast in full.
In the rant he claimed to Mob Wives star Renee Graziano: “I think the worst type though is, I’m afraid to say, the bisexuals. What it is is people not wanting to admit they are gay.”
He continued to claim AIDS was a “bisexual disease”, adding that “there were a lot of bisexuals who went to [third world] countries and had sex with those people and brought it back to their own families in America, and that’s how it became a worldwide disease.”
Mr Biggins attempted to apologise for his offensive behaviour following his removal from the house – but this is not the first time he has been criticised for his views on the LGBT community.
The entertainer opposed the introduction of equal marriage, claiming in 2012: “I’m very anti-marriages, because I think that is for heterosexual couples. We can’t get rid of everything”.
He recently re-stated his opposition to same-sex marriage claiming it’s “a step too far”.
