Who were the past presenters of Blankety Blank?

Blankety Blank is back for a brand new series, with Bradley Walsh as host… but who presented the game show in its heyday?

By Ellie Harrison

Published: Thursday, 30 September 2021 at 12:00 am

Following last year’s Christmas Special, The Chase’s Bradley Walsh is back to present a new series of Blankety Blank.

The new 10-part series will kick off on BBC One on Saturday, 2nd October at 9pm, following the second live show of Strictly Come Dancing.

It will see a panel of six celebrities try to fill in the missing blanks over a series of rounds as they try to help win some brilliant prizes for contestants. Celebs this year include: Judy Murray, Rickie Haywood-Williams, Shappi Khorsandi, Rob Beckett, Ellie Taylor and Peter Andre.

Walsh is the sixth presenter to host Blankety Blank, following behind Vernon Kay and David Walliams, who each presented specials of the show in 2007 and 2016 respectively.

But, who was the original host on the show? And which celebs have fronted Blankety Blank over the years?

Read on for all you need to know about the presenters of the iconic gameshow from the late Terry Wogan in the 70s, right down to Paul O’Grady’s alter ego Lily Savage.

Who was the first host of Blankety Blank?

Terry Wogan

The late and great Sir Terry Wogan was the pioneering host of Blankety Blank from its conception in 1979. For four years Wogan presented the show, and is remembered for his rather unusual stick-like microphone and his funny failure to keep the guests in check. On one memorable occasion, Kenny Everett bent the mic in half. From this moment on, every time Everett appeared on the show there’d be an attempt to destroy what became known as Wogan’s Wand.

Who were the past presenters of Blankety Blank?

Les Dawson

When Dawson took over from Wogan in 1984, he triumphantly snapped Wogan’s Wand in two, and said he felt “about as comfortable as a lame turkey sat on a pile of paxo listening to Christmas carols”. Blankety Blank was infamous for its awful prizes, and Dawson once quipped: “You are not going away empty handed, you have a map of Penrith!” – he was known for his sarcasm and his deadpan wit.

Lily Savage

From 1998 til the show’s end in 2002, Paul O’Grady hosted Blankety Blank as his drag alter-ego Lily Savage. Bringing pure sass to the studio, Savage was notorious for her hilarious cruelty to her guests – whose names she would often “forget” – and her haphazard approach to presenting.

Vernon Kay

In 2007, presenter and I’m A Celebrity 2020 contestant Vernon Kay hosted the Gameshow Marathon version of Blankety Blank on ITV.

Gameshow Marathon was originally hosted by Ant and Dec to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ITV in 2005, and saw some of our fave 90s games, from Price is Right to Play Your Cards Right, revived for a seven episode special.

After finishing as runner up on series one, Kay was asked to host the new series.