Maura Higgins is trading her own search for love on screen for helping strangers find theirs. Disney+ confirmed Wednesday that the Irish television personality will host a reboot of “Blind Date,” stepping into a hosting chair once occupied by Cilla Black.
The new season arrives in 2027 and keeps the format’s defining gimmick: three hopeful suitors, hidden behind a partition, fielding questions from a single dater who picks one to meet face-to-face. Hulu commissioned the project for Disney+ EMEA, with Sean Doyle, the platform’s vice president of unscripted programming, overseeing the deal. Stellify Media, backed by Sony Pictures Television, produces alongside So TV, a unit of ITV Studios; Matthew Worthy and Kieran Doherty lead for Stellify, with Graham Stuart producing for So TV.
“Blind Date” first aired on ITV in 1985 and ran for nearly two decades under Black’s stewardship before ending in 2003. Channel 5 revived it in 2017 with Paul O’Grady hosting until 2019. Disney’s version marks its third life and its first outside British terrestrial television.
Angela Jain, head of content at Disney+ EMEA, called Higgins a shortcut to the tone the reboot wants, describing her as cheeky, witty and warm during remarks at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Doyle acknowledged the network gets pitched dating formats constantly and has largely passed, given how saturated the genre has become, but said “Blind Date” carries built-in recognition that a new format would lack.
Higgins built her fame as a contestant rather than a host. She appeared on the fifth series of “Love Island” in 2019, sharing the villa with Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury before exiting without a win. Since then she has hosted “Love Island USA: Aftersun” and its spinoff “Love Island Games: Aftersun,” alongside stints on “The Traitors US,” “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” and “Dancing on Ice.” She recently joined the cast of “Dancing With the Stars” in the U.S.
The hosting job adds another credit to a résumé that has expanded steadily beyond the reality genre that made her a household name, positioning her as one of the format’s more durable exports on both sides of the Atlantic.
