Graham Skidmore, known as the iconic voiceover artists of Blind Date, has died
TV legend Graham Skidmore, known as the iconic voiceover artists of Blind Date, has died aged 90.
Blind Date, which ran from 1985 to 2002, featured Skidmore as a regular fixture where he recapped hundreds of answers given by potential suitors and was known as ‘Our Graham’ on the show.
His co-host Cillia Black would often drop the line ‘well It’s over to our Graham for a quick reminder’ during the show, treating the audience to a recap of what the contestants said.
He was dropped from the ITV hit show after a 17-year run, with Tommy Sandhu taking his position in 2002.
It was black who gave him the nickname ‘Our Graham’. Skidmore attended her funeral in 2015.
He was also a voiceover artist on BBC2’s Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
Before his television career, Graham owned a launderette, a corner shop and did up flats before going on to do voiceover work for Blind Date and Shooting Stars.
‘He might not have wanted to be seen on screen, but he had a celebrity voice – a known voice,’ his son Neil, 54, told The Sun.
Tributes began pouring in for Graham Skidmore, 66, the voice of ‘Our Graham’. on the television programme, ‘Blind Date’, moments after his death was announced
Skidmore is pictured with wife Pauline and children. The beloved voice actor, who suffered from vascular dementia in later life, spent his last years living in Kent
‘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, who suffered from vascular dementia in later life, spent his last years living in Kent.
The son of a Woolworth’s manager, he was born in Birmingham but grew up in London.
His daughter Catherine Johnson, 52, said Graham had wanted to be a doctor, but missed his final exams because of an ear infection – leading him to a career in television as a voiceover artist.
The star tried his hand at engineering after his National Service in the Medical Corps, but discovered he had a great command of his voice when he began singing on the side, eventually trying out musicals.
He shared a home with his wife Pauline in Woodford Green, Essex, for more than 40 years.
Despite his long stint on the show, he said in a 2002 interview with The Mirror that he only met his co-host on two occasions.
‘I never really got the opportunity to know Cilla,’ he said. ‘I was tucked away in a little box saying: “Or will you pick contestant number two?” She said hello when we passed in the corridor but that was it. I’ve never been to her house and I wasn’t invited to the big Blind Date wedding.’
He died on December 27 2021, but the news of his passing was only confirmed on Sunday.
Cilla Black, pictured, gave Skidmore the nickname ‘Our Graham’ during their time co-hosting ITV’s Blind Date. In the show, co-host Black quizzed contestants on their backgrounds with the answers later receiving a recap from Skidmore
WHAT WAS ITV’S ‘BLIND DATE’?
Blind Date originally ran on Saturday nights from 1985 to 2003 on ITV, with its final season airing without co-host Graham Skidmore who was booted off the show after 17 years.
The show returned in 2017 on Channel 5, with the new series airing on its usual Saturday night slot produced by So Television, Olga TV and Stellify Media, a firm part-owned by Sony Pictures Television.
In the show, co-host Cilla Black quizzed contestants on their backgrounds with the answers later receiving a recap from Skidmore.
Since it was a voice over role, Skidmore was never seen by viewers on the show, despite his near two-decade long stint on the series that became iconic for many British Saturday-night viewers.
Melanie Sykes became the new voice of the show, taking over the famous role.
