Blind Date beats Love Island to be voted best dating show of all time

By Lauren Morris

Published: Monday, 06 June 2022 at 12:00 am

With Love Island returning to ITV2 tonight, it’s officially dating show season – and the RadioTimes.com readers have delivered their verdict on which of the hundreds out there is the ultimate one.

Over the last week, readers have been deciding which series is the ultimate dating show, and while the results have been close at times, Cilla Black’s ITV favourite Blind Date has been declared the winner.

The iconic series, which was hosted by Black from 1985 until 2003 before being rebooted with Paul O’Grady in 2017, saw singletons choose between three potential love matches by asking them questions – however, they were unable to see what they looked like.

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Love Island and Blind Date made it to the final of the Ultimate Dating Show competition – but Blind Date came out on top
Getty ITV

A total of 64 per cent of voters picked Blind Date as the ultimate dating show in the final, with ITV2’s Love Island coming in second place with 36 per cent of the vote.

The competition saw 32 dating shows go up against each other in a series of polls to determine which series is the most popular, with a randomiser determining who faced who in the group stages to make sure the whole thing was nice and fair.

Although Too Hot to Handle, First Dates, Celebs Go Dating and The Dating Game made it through to the quarter-finals, it was Blind Date, Love Island, Love Is Blind and Married at First Sight who were declared as semi-finalists, before Blind Date and Love Island did battle in the exciting final.

While Blind Date – which featured now-celebrities like Amanda Holden, Ed Byrne and Jenni Falconer as contestants – has been off the air for three years, the 2022 season of Love Island begins tonight, with a new line-up of singletons entering the villa.

Love Island 2022 begins on Monday 6th June at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight. 

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