The Masked Singer judge Davina McCall was left in shock after the celebrity behind the Dippy Egg costume was unveiled as her long-time co-presenter Nicky Campbell.
Radio and TV presenter Campbell, 62, has presented the TV series Long Lost Family, which reunites relatives after years of separation, alongside McCall since 2011.
After Campbell was unmasked during Saturday’s episode of the ITV show, McCall screamed and ran on stage to hug him.
🥚🎤 WELL DONE #DIPPYEGG! 🎭 You CRACKED us up and EGG-cited us all! 🐣👏 #MaskedSingerUK pic.twitter.com/qZPuisujC0
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) February 3, 2024
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An emotional McCall later said: “This is the best surprise, better than any birthday. I love this man.
“Nicky’s a friend, We’ve been working together for 13 years – I cannot believe I didn’t recognise your voice, I didn’t recognise your singing voice, I know your singing voice. This is insane.”
As he performed the classic song Moon River again, he got choked up as McCall watched on with tears in her eyes.
Reflecting on the moment, he said: “Oh, she was emotional. I was emotional at the end doing the song again. It was incredible.
“I was emotional all the way through just trying to see her through the mask. Each performance, I could just sort of make her out, and I was thinking, ‘it’s so near, yet so far away’.”
He revealed he wanted to take part in the show as he loves it and watches at home with his daughters, adding: “I can kind of sing so when the opportunity came up, I thought, ‘Yeah, absolutely. Incredible.’ And it was.
“It’s tough in here with the old lid on, but you get used to it after about four shows.”
🌟 #MAYPOLE! You've TWIRLED your way into our hearts with your BEAUTIFUL MELODIES! WELL DONE! #MaskedSingerUK! 🎭 pic.twitter.com/Eut9o61I2v
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) February 3, 2024
Former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton was also unmasked as the character Maypole during the show, after she landed in the bottom three alongside Dippy Egg and Eiffel Tower.
Following her performance of judge Rita Ora’s hit song Let You Love Me, Ora and McCall both thought it could be a former Pussycat Doll member, but they wrongly opted for Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts respectively.
The other judges were off the mark as well as Jonathan Ross thought it could be singer Zara Larsson, Mo Gilligan held to his previous guess of singer Katy B and guest judge Sir Lenny Henry voted for US singer Janelle Monae.
McCall said she had leaned towards it being a member of the girl group due to the character’s dancing abilities.
Thornton thanked her for the complement as she revealed she was the only one in the group who was not a trained dancer or singer, describing how she got into the ensemble as a “Cinderella story”.
Reflecting on why she wanted to go on the show, she said: “I think that the thing about this show is that it’s all positive.
“You actually just get to have fun, and it’s been lovely bringing this character to life.”
Eiffel Tower squeezed through to another week after the judges voted to keep them in the competition.
For their performance they took on Rihanna’s ballad Stay, which caused Ora to say the series features “some of the best vocalists” the show has seen.
Ora thought the vocals could belong to actress Jameela Jamil or Paloma Faith, with Ross agreeing he thought it could be Faith.
The episode also saw comedian Gilligan compare the singing ability of the contestant Air Fryer to Beyonce after they performed a powerful rendition of Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked.
He said: “That’s the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen Beyonce three times and she has nothing on Air Fryer.”
Gilligan guessed it could be singer Ella Henderson behind the mask, while McCall thought the performer – who she described as “jaw-droppingly, breathtakingly amazing” – was X Factor star Leona Lewis, which Sir Lenny agreed with.
Ora thought it could be a former song competition judge which led her to believe it might be Australian singer Dannii Minogue, while Ross though it could be former Pussycat Doll Roberts.
#AIRFRYER's voice is sooooo CRISP! 🍟🎶 WELL DONE! AMAZING performance! 🤖 #MAskedSingerUK pic.twitter.com/wjA66D8vFW
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) February 3, 2024
Cricket later hyped up the judges and crowd with an energetic performance of Antenna by Fuse ODG.
After a number of film references, Sir Lenny took a punt at the famous face being actor Tom Hanks.
Gilligan thought the mention of the person making waves could be singer and producer Taio Cruz, while Ross interpreted the clue to mean that it could be musician Seal.
Ora held by her guess of British singer Lemar as she felt a clue referenced one of his albums, while McCall suggested it could be US singer and actor Gregory Porter.
That #PIRANHA performance was absolutely JAW-DROPPING! 🦷🎭 #MaskedSingerUK? 🐟 pic.twitter.com/E2boDIUHR8
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) February 3, 2024
The show also saw Piranha rock out to Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone which led Gilligan to think it could be Glee star Darren Criss.
While Ross thought the vocals could be that of Max George from The Wanted and Ora guessed it could be singer Jamie Cullum.
The celebrity behind the Big Foot costume also energised the crowd by singing Shut Up And Dance by US pop rock band Walk The Moon.
A series of football clues led Sir Lenny to think it may be former Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole while Gilligan, McCall and Ross all opted for The Last Leg star Alex Brooker being behind the mask.
The Masked Singer will continue on ITV.
