In 1997, Cilla Black outed an undercover journalist on national television for "cheating" one of her Blind Daters of a chance at love.
Blind Date saw three hopefuls looking for love sitting on bar stools, answering questions from a suitor they had never even laid eyes on to find their perfect match. Whoever impressed the bachelor with their answers the most would fly off to a luxurious location to spend some one-on-one time.
The late Cilla Black is synonymous with the show after hosting it from 1985 - 2003 which fellow MErseysider Paul O'Grady taking over when the show was rebooted in 2017. Over the decades, Cilla welcomed hundreds of singles looking for love which sometimes resulted in weddings, children and even mild controversy.
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Saying enough is enough, Cilla effectively halted production when she quit live on air - the show's first-ever live episode - without any prior warning to staff or producers. The unprecedented exit was simply because she thought the show had run its course and didn't want it to feel like "a chore".
The show's biggest controversy, however, came in the form of an undercover journalist who posed as a contestant looking for love. A writer by the name of Nicola Gill lied to producers by claiming she was a secretary and went along with the show all for the sake of getting a story for her actual workplace, Cosmopolitan magazine.
In a prior episode, Nicola chose singleton Paul as the man she'd like to couple up with and after spending time together on the isle of Skye, they were invited back to discuss how their date went. Nicola said: "I’m the kind of person who likes surprises. Paul likes his life to be a bit more ordered. I can’t think of anything Paul would hate more than a surprise."
Cilla had quite the surprise in store for Gill. Cilla said: "I know what you’re at... and I feel awfully deeply saddened by this. You don’t work as a temporary secretary. I know for a fact that you are an undercover journalist, and you’ve robbed somebody of coming on a proper blind date.”
Nicola could barely contain the look of embarrassment on her face as Cilla added: "You work for Cosmopolitan magazine. She’s a journalist, ladies and gentlemen. Not a Blind Dater at all."
Following the revelation, the audience began jeering Nicola. Cilla asked if she had a partner before coming on the show which she denied but a text prompt on-screen appeared simultaneously declaring "Nicola later admitted she is engaged to be married in June".
Nicola was beside herself with nervous laughter before admitting she thought Paul was a genuine guy who deserved to go on a proper date. Paul refrains from comment for the majority of the segment, instead staring blankly at the floor presumably confused and embarrassed about the situation.
When Nicola says she had a "fantastic time", the audience floods out her voice with boos. Blind Date also handed the pair tickets for an all-expenses-paid trip to Nepal, which lead Cilla to ask, "Are you going to give your tickets back?"
Nicola said: "I would like Paul to go with someone else. I think he's a genuinely nice guy and I would like [to give him] the opportunity to go with someone else and I would've told him that."
Cilla added: "Don’t you feel the least bit guilty? I’m sure there are lots of girls in our audience tonight – certainly millions of girls watching at home – who would have given their right arm to be sitting on this sofa. And you’ve cheated one of those lovely girls out of a proper Blind Date. How does that make you feel?"
Cosmopolitan magazine reported Nicola's article eventually did see the light of day where she recounts the awkward situation she found herself in. She said: "Paul looks stunned. I feel sick. The studio is spinning. The audience is booing. All I can do is keep smiling, mumble about the fantastic time I've had and wait for this TV hell to end.
"When the filming is over though, Cilla is sweet as anything. 'Sorry chuck,' she says. 'We found out about it two days ago, so we had to do that. I hope you understand why'."
In the show's final moments, Nicola once again backtracks on her behaviour and begs for Paul to still be allowed to take the trip. Cilla finally snaps back, "Well he's going anyway."
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