SURPRISE SURPRISE IT'S TY

I was a tad hungover yesterday morning and couldn't sleep so nipped out to grab some breakfast at the greasy spoon across the road. I flicked some channels and saw the hunk of spunk that is Ty Pennington. He hosts the lead-in to Desperate Housewives in America - Extreme Makeover:Home Edition. Him and his design team of big breasted designers and rough workies basically tear down a house in dire need of a facelift, send the family to Disneyland for a week and they return with the whole street cheering them on as they discover their new home. Yesterday, the husband was stationed in Iraq but he was brought back for the heartfelt reunion with his wife who had braces and was wearing the same outfit she had when she left 7 days earlier. Maybe it was the bozze from the night before but I wept tears of joy! Ty took the opportunity to design the new bathroom and at the end there was the gratuitous shirtless shot of him 'testing' the shower out. He has loads of enthusiasm and a chiselled jaw line which makes it all the more watchable.

Watching the reunion reminded of my Sunday nights as a child watching British TV demilegend Cilla Black. She was the ginger singer with buckteeth from Liverpool and came to public attention in the 1960s with a loveable personality and songs like 'Alfie' and 'Anyone Who Ever Had A Heart' She really came into her own in the 80s as host of Saturday night game show 'Blind Date' and on a Sunday, she provided the feelgood factor with 'Surprise, Surprise'.

Surprise, Surprise was run of the mill stuff until the last segment when Cilla got some old dear on stage to chat about their family with some sister/brother/mother who had emigrated to New Zealand and lost touch or thought they were dead before finally reuniting them in the final moments. She always then left them alone and walked to the middle of the stage and sang the piece de resistance - the theme song! She thanked everyone involved in the show for making it a special night (it was always a special night) and bringing loved ones together then she bumped her hip a bit and started to mime....

"Surprise Surprise! The unexpected hit you between the eyes, the unpredictable, that's the surprise you see. Surprise Surprise!" She then looked to the newly reunited family and smiled before telling the audience 'Ta ra' and walking off amid floods of tears from everyone watching - or maybe that was just me.