It is the new prime-time show for BBC Two presented by the woman described as the Asian Cilla Black. British singletons will be found a partner using the principles of arranged marriage.

Aneela Rahman will become the country’s new matchmaker-in-chief as the star of BBC Two’s Arrange Me A Marriage.

Mrs Rahman, a marriage broker from Glasgow, believes that the divorce rate in Britain would decline if more couples were matched up through class, education, family background, life goals and earnings.

She said: “For many nonAsians meeting someone is quite random, in a bar or club, but you wouldn’t buy a house or car drunk so why would you expect to find a life partner like that?”

Each week Mrs Rahman, who has been married for 15 years and has two children, will prepare a traditional Asian introduction for an unmarried British thirtysomething. Working with family and friends, she has one month to find a life partner for each “contestant”. But there are culture clashes.

Broadcasters are keen to test whether the principles from the Asian sub-continent can be applied to Britain. But Arrange Me A Marriageis also a spin on the Eighties television dating

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