US cable channel seeks to broadcast ‘live exorcism’ – but needs to hire a priest first

A Discovery-owned cable network, Destination America, is seeking to air a “live exorcism” the night before Halloween.

The television channel says it is still looking for a priest to perform the rite, however.

The programme, Exorcism: Live!, will revisit a house where an exorcism was performed 66 years ago on a boy called Roland Doe – a story that apparently inspired the film The Exorcist.

The programme-makers will investigate the site with a team of “ghost experts” and “state-of-the-art technology”.

The first time an exorcism was apparently broadcast, 29 million viewers tuned in to watch.

In 1991, Barbara Walters investigated a teenage girl from Florida called Gina whose exorcism took place during a six-hour episode of ABC’s 20/20.

Producer Rob Wallace said to People magazine at the time: “People had exorcism parties all over the place.”