Maura Higgins to Host Disney+ 'Blind Date' Reboot in 2027
Maura Higgins will present a new season of the UK dating show Blind Date on Disney+ in 2027, the streaming platform has confirmed. The announcement, reported by Deadline on 26 August 2026, ends weeks of speculation that began when Higgins was said to be in advanced talks for the role back in June.
Higgins rose to fame on Love Island and was recently cast in Dancing With The Stars. She now steps into a role indelibly associated with Cilla Black, who hosted the original Blind Date on ITV from its launch in 1985 through nearly 20 years on air. The Sun had already dubbed Higgins "the next Cilla Black" when news of the reboot first surfaced.
The new Blind Date is a Hulu original — a label Disney uses for its English-language original programming — commissioned by Sean Doyle, vice president of unscripted at Disney+ EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Angela Jain, head of content at Disney+ EMEA, said Higgins is a "shortcut" for a tone that is "cheeky, fun, witty, and warm."
Three production companies share executive-producer duties. Matthew Worthy and Kieran Doherty of Stellify Media — a Sony Pictures Television-backed company — are joined by Graham Stuart of So TV, which sits within ITV Studios. The pairing brings together the studio that carries the original show's DNA with a Sony-backed indie, both experienced in UK unscripted television.
Blind Date last aired on Channel 5, Paramount's UK network, between 2017 and 2019. The Disney+ reboot moves the format onto a streaming platform for the first time, placing a Saturday-night British institution into the subscription on-demand world.
For Higgins, the gig adds a presenting credit to a CV built on reality-television appearances. For Disney+, it adds a recognisable UK format to a slate that has been expanding its non-scripted output across European markets. The show is expected to stream in 2027; an exact release window has not been announced.
