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MASKED SECRETS
Masked Singer judges expose intimate secrets behind the new series, including sexy undies, huge bets and hidden crush
Mo is more convinced than ever that he has guessed one name correctly
TELEVISION’S star-spangled guessing game is back, with a fresh clutch of celebrities hidden inside wacky costumes.
But it’s not just The Masked Singer’s contestants who are hiding secrets — the panellists all have their own.
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Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora and Mo Gilligan are back for ITV’s new series, with Joel Dommett returning as host.
And saucy Davina is keeping the naughtiest secret of them all.
The 56-year-old told The Sun: “I’m always trying to wear things where I could end up in the ‘what were you thinking?’ pages of a magazine.
"I never want to dress in a way people might expect me to.
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“That’s come with midlife. I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going quietly.
"I refuse to conform to how you think I should look.
"I’m going to be the opposite’.
“So my lingerie is on point every day — whether I’m seeing anybody or not.
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“If I’m on my own all day, the first thing I do is put on a matching set.
“Then, when you go to a meeting, you think, ‘Well, I’ve got a secret.
"You don’t know . . . you don’t know . . . you don’t know’.
“You know what I mean? It’s like a private pep talk.”
Elsewhere the gang reveal:
- One of them stormed off stage because they were so furious after not guessing a close pal in costume.
- One has “bet their house” on a certain name being revealed.
- Another learns that a guest judge has a crush on them.
- Top guesser Jonathan finally shares the secret behind his success.
First up, it’s not just Davina with a stealthy wardrobe strategy this year.
Presenter Joel’s firstborn was just three weeks old when he returned to the studio, and the TV hunk reckons he has leaned into his new job as a dad.
Admitting his Masked Singer secret, he said: “I’m going for the Dilf vibe. That’s what I’m trying to bring — Dilf in a suit.
“We’ve got a different designer doing some stuff and I went with my wife Hannah when she was about 20 weeks pregnant.
“I looked a lot at the suits John Legend wears on The Voice in America. I screenshotted some ideas and sent it over.
“My wallpaper suit is based on something that Timothee Chalamet wore on a junket.”
But while it might sound like the team’s heads are filled only with fashion, they have again been tasked with the important job of detecting which famous faces are hidden inside the bonkers costumes.
This year the disguises include such crazy concepts as Air Fryer, Bubble Tea, Eiffel Tower, Dippy Egg and Bigfoot.
But despite all that, Mo is more convinced than ever that he has guessed one name correctly — because he reckons it is his mate.
Revealing his show secret, the comedian, 35, said: “I think early on sometimes you know someone and you’re just like, ‘I know that clue, I know who that person is, I’ve connected the dots’.
“You get an aura from them.
“So the one I think is my mate, I’m putting my house on the line for that one, I swear to you.
“If I don’t get that one right, then I’ll have to look for another place to sleep.
“Listen, I’m a man of my word. At any time of a bet, I make sure I’m a man of my word.
“Viewers will have to wait and see whether that ends up happening.”
While Mo is keeping the identity of his mystery pal under wraps, Davina and Joel have both confessed to unmasking friends this year.
So what was that experience like for Joel?
The 38-year-old comedian turned presenter told The Sun: “Just incredible.
"Hard to describe, really. To be in the industry for that long, to go from being the warm-up guy to then hosting a show and having someone from my past standing next to me — it just feels amazing to have had that journey.
“That’s why I feel like you’ve got to be nice to everyone at every moment, because you never know when that person is going to be giving you work in the future — or stood next to you in an insane costume.”
But Davina divulges that ALL of the panellists were most embarrassed when another celebrity was unveiled — so much so that she then stormed off stage.
She said: “The funny thing was that all of us have met this one character — we were kicking our-selves.
"They did very, very, very well in fooling us all. We all should have got them, all of us. No excuses.
“I couldn’t help myself storming off when I saw who the person was.
“There have been many people on the show who I have met in passing, but this was a real friend, someone I have known for years.
“It’s embarrassing. It was the greatest surprise I’ve ever had.”
But it’s hard to shock Jonathan Ross — whose amazing recollections of showbiz parties from many years in the biz always delight his fellow panellists.
Now he’s finally revealed the secrets to his Masked Singer success at guessing the names behind the disguises.
Jonathan, 63, told The Sun: “I write a big long list of people who, I think conceivably, UK celebrities or Americans or people who are in the UK, might do the show.
“And I make another list of people who I think absolutely wouldn’t do it, because it is good to guess an outrageous name.
“Then I’ll do a list of comedy guesses just so I’ve got kind of lots of names at my fingertips.
“My best guess this year is Ryan Reynolds.
"He’s in Wrexham a lot of the time now. You never know. I mean, he’s up for a laugh!”
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Ahead of the launch of The Masked Singer’s fifth series, the prime-time Saturday night entertainment hit has a point to prove after winning a Bafta this year.
Bosses have added extra muscle to the team, ready to wow viewers.
Rita Ora had to skip some filming to cover her duties as a panellist on the US version of the show — with reigning champ Charlie Simpson, comic Jennifer Saunders and singer Olly Murs swelling the ranks in her place.
It was Olly, 39, who really ruffled feathers, after revealing his own secret — that he had always had a crush on Davina.
She said with a laugh: “How nice is that? Life done. He’s such a lovely man.
“Olly really zoned into the singing.
"He was very, very good at it.
"He was an amazing panellist, he’s so zoned into the voice and what it’s like to be a competitor.”
Flirting celebrities
There was even more flirting from the masked celebrities.
Joel shared: “Some characters, they flirt with Rita, so that’s their thing.
"Maypole this year, they are quite clingy.
"Bigfoot’s flirting with me a lot, which I like. Because of their flirting, I think I know who it might be.”
As for singer Charlie, who won this year as Rhino, Davina confessed he had shared his own secret with her.
She said: “Charlie said to me while we were watching someone, ‘How they feel right now is the most nervous I have ever been performing anywhere, ever’.
“I was like, ‘Really? What? You were behind a mask . . . ’ He said it was so scary.”
Rita, 33, said: “I missed three episodes and I hate missing this show.
"It’s one of my favourite things to do. I love the panel, I love having this job.
"These guys are like family.
“The US version is completely different.
"Of course it’s the talent for me, I’m biased but it’s fantastic.
"But wherever you go in the world, it’s kind of the same energy, to be honest, because the show is just that crazy and the costumes are just as crazy as well.
“It’s amazing to be back. I love being with everyone. We have so much fun together.”
Mo agrees — even though Davina and Jonathan might not appreciate his phrasing.
He said with a laugh: “Rita and I are kind of similar ages and it’s like you can bounce off with your siblings a little bit, you know?
"Whether it’s us sometimes having sweets on set and we shouldn’t be chewing . . . do you know what I mean?
“With the silly stuff, some of the things I get, she gets.
“And it’s not that Davina or Jonathan don’t, but it’s almost like Jonathan’s the dad, Davina’s the mum and we’re like brother and sister.”
Perhaps proving Mo’s point, Jonathan said of the costumes this year: “Bubble Tea and Air Fryer make the show very, very modern, don’t they?
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“There’s a couple of phrases that weren’t in common conversation two or three years ago, and now we’ve got them dancing on prime-time ITV1.”
- The new series of The Masked Singer begins on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1.
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