KIMBERLEY Walsh couldn’t hold back the tears as Girls Aloud band-mate Nicola Roberts was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer.
Nicola won the competition as Queen Bee, finishing ahead of the Hedgehog, who turned out to be comedian Jason Manford.
An emotional Kimberley Walsh watched The Masked Singer final with Nicola Roberts
With the show having been filmed before Christmas, Kimberley watched the final with Nicola, Cheryl and some other close friends.
She looked incredibly proud of her friend’s performance and hugged Nicola as they watched the show unfold.
The 38-year-old got emotional seeing her best pal take home the crown, captioning one of her Instagram story clips: “I’m such a softy but so bloody proud of her.”
Another clip read: “could honestly not be more prouder @lilcola I love you so much.”
Nicola watched the final along with Kimberley and many other friends
After weeks of speculation the 34-year-old was finally unmasked and became the The Masked Singer UK’s very first winner.
The flame-haired beauty was up against the Hedgehog and Octopus, who happened to be opera singer Catherine Jenkins.
Robert’s rousing renditions of Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved and Somebody Else’s Guy by Jocelyn Brown, were enough to beat Jason Manford’s impressive covers of Ella Fitzgerald’s Cry Me a River and Black Magic by Little Mix.
Jenkins’ rendition of tongue twister Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins was enough to see her finish third.
Fans were excited to see who was under the elaborate black and yellow costume, with one saying: “Absolutely buzzing that Queen Bee was Nicola Roberts and that she won.”
Another viewer tweeted: “Congratulations @NicolaRoberts – you were absolutely incredible week after week! So proud of you, especially knowing how shy you are! Such an incredible voice that we all know you have!”
A third follower said: “Also called it weeks ago that Nicola Roberts was Queen Bee, and called it week 1 she would win. Her voice is absolutely AMAZING! Goosebumps!”
A fourth added: “Amazing winner, what an absolute icon, congrats @NicolaRoberts!”
Nicola was part of famous girl group Girls Aloud
Judges Rita Ora and Davina McCall had previously correctly guessed that the Girls Aloud was behind the Queen Bee mask.
One of Queen Bee’s clues throughout the competition was that she first became famous as a child, before going on to have a career in the public eye as an adult.
The panel also guessed stars such as Margot Robbie, Charli XCX and even Nicola’s fellow band-mate Nadine.
Nicola first shot to fame by competing on Popstars: The Rivals and won the competition as part of Girls Aloud alongside Cheryl, Nadine, Kimberley and Sarah.
