Picture StoryFrom the Archive Cilla Black

On This Day 2001: Cilla Black poses for a Blind Date photocall

Cilla Black in purple at the Dorchester Hotel, London, for a new-series Blind Date photocall on 1 November 2001. Four photographs revisit the occasion, twenty-five years later.

By Fame In Pictures DeskPhotographed 1 Nov 2001Published 1 Nov 20261 min read

Cilla Black smiling in a purple patterned blouse at the Blind Date photocall — Image credit Big Pictures ArchiveLicense this image
On This Day 2001: Cilla Black poses for a Blind Date photocall
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Cilla Black smiles for photographers at the Blind Date photocall at the Dorchester Hotel, London, on 1 November 2001.
Image credit Big Pictures ArchiveLicense this image

On 1 November 2001, Cilla Black posed for photographers at the Dorchester Hotel in London to promote a new series of Blind Date. Twenty-five years later, four photographs revisit a photocall that moves from full-length poses to close portraits of the television presenter.

Purple runs through the pictures: a velvet jacket, a patterned blouse and the glint of jewellery, paired with black trousers and pointed boots. In one full-length frame, Black stands with her hands on her hips. In another, she lifts a hand towards her neck, with the London skyline beyond the terrace wall.

The closer portraits catch her smiling towards the photographers, her jacket resting over her shoulders in one frame. The same outfit and setting link all four photographs, while changes in pose and framing give each its own character. The original captions date the Blind Date photocall to 1 November 2001 and identify the Dorchester Hotel as the venue. All photographs are credited to Big Pictures Archive.