THE Masked Singer will be making it’s return to ITV at some point in 2023, but the series has already been one of the most surprising on British television.
Although there is no official announced start date yet, series 3 had it’s premiere in January 2022.
Since Ken Jeong departed the series after the first series back in 2020, fans of the popular celebrity competition tuned in to see the likes of Davina McCall, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan give their guessing’s and verdicts.
The show sees a number of celebrities dressed in elaborate costumes, with the panel and audience left guessing at their identities and HOAR looks back at some of the most shocking moments of the series so far.
Michael Owen as Doughnuts
Michael Owen sent social media into meltdown when he was shockingly unveiled as Doughnuts on The Masked Singer.
The 42-year-old father of Love Island finalist Gemma Owen, made it to the sixth week on the hit ITV show, but was sent packing in a double elimination alongside actress Jaime Winstone.
Owen’s Doughnuts, a man made of a big pile of sweet treats, rapped Everybody Get Up by the boyband Five in what was his last performance.
And following his unveiling, he took to Twitter to apologise for his poor – but highly entertaining – renditions of songs.
He said: “Finally I can apologise for burning your ears these last few weeks.
Cee Lo Green as Monster
In another double elimination, singer and rapper Cee Lo Green was revealed as Monster and viewers were shocked at themselves when they guessed the artist correctly.
Although the 47-year-old star has a very distinctive tone, his performances still had the judges at a loose end.
At one point Jonathon Ross guessed the costume could have even belonged to Noel Fielding.
However the Fool for You singer admitted he was a huge fan of the primetime show and was overcome with all the kind feedback he got.
Morten Harket as Viking
Series 2 saw 80s popstar Morten Harket, the lead singer of A-Ha revealed as Viking.
His clues were known to be some of the hardest in the shows history at that point as both the viewers and judges struggled to guess his identity.
On the show the character said: “My career has been one of billions, over a billion people have watched me do my thing.
He also exclaimed: “As precious metals go, steel has proved useful in my career.”
Guest judge Alan Carr was convinced Viking was Brendan from Coach Trip, whilst Mo Gilligan and Davina McCall claimed he was Ricky Wilson from Kaiser Chiefs, and Rita Ora put her bets on him being Bear Grylls.
But everyone’s jaws dropped when host Joel Dommett asked Viking to remove his mask and it was revealed to be the Norwegian singer, even after he performed a rendition of his hit song ‘Take On Me’ as a red herring.
John Thompson as Bush Baby
Fans were left shocked when Cold Feet star John Thomson was revealed as Bush Baby.
At the time, eight celebrities took to the stage in their elaborate costumes.
After all eight had performed, the audiences voted Dragon and Bush Baby into the bottom two.
When John revealed himself, the panel were shocked, particularly Jonathan Ross after he admitted they had worked together in the past.
However during the series John tried throw the panel a red herring with a fake Australian accent.
Ne-Yo as Badger
The 41-year-old singer finished the ITV series in second place when he, lost out on the top spot to Joss Stone – who was behind the Sausage mask.
Judges and viewers alike were stunned to see Ne-Yo on the show, as only guest-judge Nicola Roberts guessed the correct identity behind the Mask.
Ne-Yo later confessed that apart from his wife who knew he was taking part, only one member of his family, his four-year-old son worked out it was him on stage.
He said: “The only person who caught it was my four-year-old son, he said: ‘That bear sounds like daddy!’
Joss Stone as Sausage
Heavily pregnant Joss Stone was shockingly unmasked as Sausage as she beat Ne-Yo as badger to win the series.
Sausage was the most hotly-contested character throughout the competition – with avid viewers convinced that the mystery star was everyone from Sheridan Smith to Stacey Solomon.
In fact, even Stacey’s fiancé Joe Swash was adamant that she was secretly on the show, but it was 33-year-old singer Joss the entire time who got through undetected.
Joss welcomed her first child, baby daughter Violet, at the end of January, and was five months pregnant when the ITV show was filmed in September.
Jason Manford as Hedgehog
Jason Manford was revealed as The Hedgehog in a shocking reveal in the 1st series of the show in an episode watched by nearly eight million viewers.
The comedian made it all the way to the final where he eventually lost out to former Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts.
But at the time, Manford revealed his pal Alfie Boe unknowingly mocked his singing voice while appearing on hit show.
The comedian explained: “I rang Alfie and I said to him ‘Have you been watching The Masked Singer? I keep getting people asking me if I’m the Hedgehog.’
“He said ‘Me too, so I watched it on Saturday night and said to myself ‘I’m not that crap at singing.’”
