Blind Date voiceover artist Graham Skidmore died last year at the age of 90, with the news only just breaking.
Skidmore’s instantly recognisable voice set the tone for the original iteration of the classic dating show hosted by Cilla Black, on which he was affectionately referred to as ‘Our Graham’.
He died on 27th December 2021, and his family have since paid tribute; his son Neil told The Sun: “He might not have wanted to be seen on screen, but he had a celebrity voice – a known voice.
“He loved it. I do event organising and had a show in London and got Dad to do the voice over. People recognised him straight away.”
Skidmore was also known for his voiceover work on Vic and Bob’s Shooting Stars in the 1990s.
Skidmore’s daughter Catherine added: “He was a marvellous man. He looked after people and made sure other people were taken care of.
“He was very modest. He was not a theatrical ‘look at me’ person. He never really wanted his face to be seen [and] that’s why he liked doing the voice overs.”
Earlier this month, Blind Date beat Love Island to be voted the best dating show of all time in RadioTimes.com‘s exclusive poll.
The classic 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 until the end.
Blind Date also featured now-celebrities like Amanda Holden, Ed Byrne and Jenni Falconer as contestants.
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.
