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"Cilla Black said that she was asked to host Blind Date because she was &amp;quot;the most sexless person on TV&amp;quot;. The actress and singer, who will be honoured at the 2014 Arqiva BAFTA Television Awards for her outstanding contribution to television entertainment over the last 50 years, was also the person who pushed to get the show on UK television.  &amp;quot;Blind Date was based on an Australian show called Perfect Match, which I first saw when I was on tour there,&amp;quot; Black told The Guardian. &amp;quot;I couldn&amp;#039;t understand why it wasn&amp;#039;t on British TV.&amp;quot;  Alan Boyd, who eventually became the show&amp;#039;s producer, told Black that Blind Date would never make it past the Independent Broadcasting Authority due to it&amp;#039;s sexual connotations. &amp;quot;Later, he told me that when he was trying to come up with the right presenter he tried to think of the most sexless person on TV,&amp;quot; Black continued. &amp;quot;He said it was me. Well that was nice.&amp;quot; After a successful career as a singer, Black fronted Blind Date from 1985 to 2003 and Surprise Surprise from 1984 to 2001. A TV drama about Cilla Black&amp;#039;s life is currently in development at ITV. Mrs Biggs actress Sheridan Smith will star as Black. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a570154/cilla-black-i-was-asked-to-host-blind-date-for-being-sexless/>