Another celebrity was revealed on The Masked Singer last night as guest judge Jennifer Saunders tried to help the rest of the all-star panel suss out who was behind the mask (spoilers ahead).
On Saturday evening (January 20) the show returned for its fourth week of the new series, with Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall and Jonathan Ross in the hot seat once more, with Rita Ora still missing.
During the special school disco episode, ITV viewers saw performances from Piranha, Owl, Eiffel Tower, Air Fryer and Bubble Tea who was eventually unmasked.
Underneath the colourful bubbly costume was Absolutely Fabulous star Julia Sawalha who was unveiled after her performance of Le Freak – and her on-screen mum Jennifer didn’t have a clue.
Here's a reminder of tonight's performance #MaskedSingerUK 🎭🎶 pic.twitter.com/b0GzI0GFGk
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) January 20, 2024
Before the pair emotionally reunited on stage, Julia said: "The panel's guesses were just so hilarious. I couldn't believe they thought I was Hannah Waddingham.
“I thought Jennifer (Saunders) got pretty close with Bubble (the character from Absolutely Fabulous). I think they did fairly well."
The Masked Singer star ‘point blank refused’ to wear Weather costume mask
But now speaking to the Metro, The Masked Singer’s costume designer has revealed some behind-the-scenes “drama” from earlier on in the series due to a last-minute costume change.
Tim Simpson said the iconic Dionne Warwick who was inside the costume of Weather was “great fun” but before she went on stage to sing Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now, there was a “dramatic moment”.
“Dionne Warwick came on and she tried her mask on and she just took it off and said, ‘I’m not wearing that’, because we have a particular type of head cradle inside the mask,” he explained.
Tim added: “We had about four and a half hours before she was due on stage, and she had point blank refused to wear it as it stood.
“I had to rip out the head cradle, at which point she looked at me and went, ‘okay, now we’re in business,’ as the producers looked on just with horror, like sheer horror, as I’m tearing apart this mask that we’ve spent so many weeks working on.”
When it came to reassuring Dionne about the urgent alterations, he commented: “I said, ‘look, I’ve done this temporary fix to it and I’ve held it together with pins, I’ve pointed them away from your head. I hope that’s okay.’ And she looked at me as if to say, ‘really?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s gonna fit, but this is the best I’ve got right now.’ She goes, ‘it’ll be fine.”’
He went on to say: “We popped it on her head and she went, ‘that’s great. let’s crack on.’ And it was excellent.
“It was one of those moments where there was a huge sigh of relief, because the performers have got to be comfortable in their masks and to have somebody who just doesn’t feel comfortable in the mask, it’s fair enough.
“They’ve got to go out and sing and they’ve got to perform and so they’ve got to be feeling all right about it and she just didn’t feel comfy in it. It didn’t fit her head and it needed a rethink very, very fast.”
Recommended reading:
- Who was Bubble Tea on The Masked Singer as they are eliminated from 2024 series
- The Masked Singer viewers certain Eiffel Tower is big UK singer-songwriter
Praising the celebrities, Tim shared: “They’re professionals and they know that ultimately, when push comes to shove, they’ll step out onto the stage and they’ll be amazing again, and that’s what she’s used to doing. So she steps out on stage and whammo, there you are.”
According to the Metro, a representative for Dionne said through their “observations” from working with her, “she always puts perfection into all the work she does”.
The Masked Singer continues on ITV and ITVX on Saturday, January 26 from 7pm.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel