Cilla Black, the grande dame of ITV entertainment, today revealed how she appealed to Granada bosses to replace the 7pm football show, The Premiership, with Blind Date.
Black telephoned the Granada chairman, Charles Allen, when the ITV football highlights show was struggling in the ratings earlier this autumn.
"All I did was phone Charles Allen and say: 'When is Blind Date coming back?'," she explained.
"I just asked Charles: 'Can't we rectify something, salvage something and bring Blind Date back?'. Everybody was asking the same question."
Black's remarks were delivered in her usual, modest, self-deprecating style. However, they prove that, when it comes to showbiz power politics, she can still fight with the best of them.
Her comments expose the delicate power play that was taking place before ITV decided to axe the 7pm football.
To accommodate The Premiership, Blind Date was to move from its traditional 7pm slot to 6pm. However, the new series, which starts on November 10, will now be screened at 7pm.
The change to the schedule now means The Premiership will be screened at 10.30pm from November 17, having taken a week's break because of an England friendly international.
An ITV spokesman said scheduling decisions were taken by the director of channels, David Liddiment.
But there can be little doubt Mr Allen will have communicated Black's concern to Mr Liddiment.
"I've not spoken to David Liddiment, I've just had lots of flowers," Black said.
She also dismissed reports that she had threatened to resign if Blind Date was not reinstated to 7pm.
She said: "I'm not a quitter, I'm a survivor. If the football had worked, we would have been at 6pm.
"The problem was, the whole ITV night had gone and people were switching to the BBC."
Black also praised Mr Liddiment's Premiership experiment, describing his decision to screen the football at 7pm as "a very brave thing to try".
She added: "The project was wrong for that time in the evening.
"Mother's there and the kids are there and they want light entertainment. Football is not light entertainment."
