A lorra lorra laughs plus a little love

MARION McMULLEN marks the 40th anniversary of Cilla Black's Blind Date

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PLAYING Cupid made Cilla Black one of the highest-paid female entertainers on television.

The loveable Liverpudlian was already a chart-topping singer and had fronted her own TV show before Blind Date came along.

It filled the prime time ITV slot on a Saturday night and saw contestants try to pick their perfect love match by the sound of their voices and the answers they gave to corny questions.

The sliding screen was later pulled away to reveal their choice out of three hopefuls and they headed off on a blind date ... returning to the show the following week to tell Cilla what they thought of the potential partner.