Cilla Black has launched a stinging attack on her former employer, ITV, and labelled Simon Cowell's new show The X Factor as "done to death".
The former ITV star, who has struggled to get a new series on mainstream TV since quitting Blind Date two years ago, made her remarks after being unveiled as Living TV's secret weapon for the Christmas schedules, in which she will present a two-hour special.
Asked if she missed working for ITV, the former Blind Date and Surprise, Surprise presenter said: "Oh God, no. Have you seen ITV lately?"
Nearly five million people watched the first episode of the X-Factor on Saturday, which aired in the same slot previously occupied by Blind Date for 18 years and ITV has high hopes for the Pop Idol-style talent show, which stars Cowell alongside fellow judges, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh.
"I like Simon Cowell. He is a dear friend," said Ms Black at a press conference to announce her new Living TV show today. "But I think that kind of show has been done to death. We are just a tiny island. America is vast but we are so tiny. I watched a little bit of it but I could not stick with it."
"I did not miss TV at all," she added. "It was not just the ITV thing [that I decided to take a break from]. It was time for me to do my own thing. Whether it was the BBC or ITV I intended to have a gap year off, but it hasn't quite worked out like that."
Ms Black quit Blind Date at the beginning of last year amid speculation that channel bosses were planning to replace her as part of a revamp of the show, which ended with just 3 million viewers. ITV later dropped plans for a one-off show to mark the veteran entertainer's 40th year in showbiz.
Ms Black also recorded a pilot for the BBC since leaving Blind Date, but it was decided not to turn it into a series.
Asked why she had decided to make her comeback on Living, Ms Black said: "I could say the money. No, I really could say the money. The first thing is I was really excited by it. I did a pilot for the BBC but it wasn't really me and it didn't work out. I was ready to do different things. I love live TV - after all, I resigned on live TV, didn't I?
"It's a feelgood show. It's time we were able to sit down in front of the TV and enjoy ourselves. I know how to garden and I know how to cook. God knows, I know how to cook. I think it's about time we were able to come home, switch on the telly and feel good. It's not going back to Surprise, Surprise as much as it is the old Cilla series I used to do for the BBC."
Living TV bosses are billing the show as a "two-hour entertainment extravaganza" and the "biggest entertainment show on multichannel TV". It will represent a significant investment for the channel, which has raised its profile thanks to big-rating US imports, including Queer Eye For the Straight Guy and new lesbian drama The L Word. Its ratings are up 60 per cent year-on-year.
Other new shows in the channel's autumn and winter schedule include controversial US makeover show, The Swan, in which "self-confessed ugly ducklings" undergo extensive plastic surgery and compete to be the "most beautiful swan".
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