Cilla teams up with boy band Blue

Cilla Black is teaming up with boy band Blue to relaunch her pop career 40 years after her first hit, she revealed today.

The band met Cilla when they appeared as celebrity contestants on the new series of Blind Date and immediately hit it off.

Now the boys from Blue – Duncan, Anthony, Simon and Lee – have agreed to sing backing vocals on Cilla’s new album, on which she performs dance versions of some of her biggest hits.

Cilla, 59, said: “They’ve promised to be my backing singers on one or two tracks on my new album and I’m very excited about it.”

She told how she has now become best mates with the band after their appearance on the show, which is back for an 18th series later this month.

“Did I enjoy working with Blue – are you kidding?” she joked. “I loved working with them. We’re good friends now, I got invited to Anthony’s party and Duncan’s mother’s house-warming.”

Cilla is recording new versions of her number one hits Anyone Who Had A Heart and You’re My World, which topped the charts in 1964, plus a dance mix of her 1968 tune Step Inside Love.

The star is releasing the album to mark 40 years in showbusiness next year - when she also celebrates her 60th birthday.

She is back in two weeks with a new series of Blind Date, which has been revamped in a bid to boost flagging ratings.

Besides surprise celebrity contestants like Blue, one of the biggest changes is the decision to axe “Our Graham”, who introduced Cilla every week and gave a “quick recap” of the three hopefuls.

Cilla said she was unhappy when programme bosses said they were getting rid of Graham – 66-year-old Graham Skidmore – despite the fact she has only met him four times in 17 years.

“I was a little bit upset when Graham wasn’t included and I couldn’t see why we had to lose him,” she said.

“These people are kind of friends so of course you’re going to miss them.

“But when I was presented with the new ideas and saw the show in its entirety I realised it’s a different show.”

Other changes include a “Ditch or Date” option which gives the show a new twist.

The picker gets rid of one of the three hopefuls after two questions. They choose one of the remaining two for a date, but after seeing their choice they get the chance to ditch them and go out with the unseen contestant instead.

Cilla also scotched rumours that daytime TV presenter Trisha Goddard had been approached to take over the Blind Date job.

Trisha apparently claimed she had turned down the lucrative offer but Cilla said: “I had a letter from Trisha and she told me it didn’t really happen that way at all.

“She was highly embarrassed by the whole situation. Her words were taken out of context and it was a load of old rubbish.”