Graham Skidmore, the renowned voiceover artist of Blind Date, has died at the age of 90.
Skidmore was a regular on the television program Blind Date, which ran from 1985 to 2002. He recapped the hundreds of responses made by potential suitors and was referred to as “Our Graham” on the program.
After 17 years, he was dropped from the popular ITV program, and Tommy Sandhu replaced him in 2002.
In 2015, Skidmore went to the funeral of co-host Cilla Black.
The nickname “Our Graham” was given to him by a black person.
Additionally, he provided the voiceovers for Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer’s Shooting Stars on BBC2.
Prior to starting his television career, Graham ran a laundromat, a corner store, and a renovation company. After that, he did voiceover work for the movies 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.
‘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.’
In later years, Skidmore, who had vascular dementia, spent his final years in Kent.
Graham intended to be a doctor, but he missed his final examinations due to an ear infection, so he decided to pursue a career as a voiceover artist in television, according to his daughter Catherine Johnson, 52.
He passed away on December 27, 2021, but it wasn’t officially announced until Sunday.