Is it just us, or are the clues on this year’s series of The Masked Singer harder than ever?
The nation’s favourite star-studded guessing game is now underway for a third year, with viewers throughout the UK gripped as they try to determine the celebs underneath the guises.
In the first two weeks of the competition, we said goodbye to M People singer Heather Small, Loose Women panellist Gloria Hunniford and Pop Idol winner Will Young.
Since then, tennis pro Pat Cash and Keane frontman Tom Chaplin have also been unmasked, with seven characters left in the running waiting for viewers to work out exactly who is underneath their costumes.
But producers haven’t exactly made it easy for us this time around, with the clues included in the pre-performance videos more cryptic than ever.
Still, that hasn’t stopped viewers from sharing their predictions online, and we’ve rounded up some of the most popular and plausible ones we’ve seen so far…
Robobunny
Before we get into it, can we just have a moment of appreciation for Robobunny’s costume, made even better when you see that its mouth actually moves while he’s singing? Hats off to the costume department on that one.
Robobunny got things rolling in his first week with a blast of Whitney Houston’s breakthrough single Saving All My Love For You, with certain pop fans convinced they’d cracked Robobunny’s identity on his vocal performance alone.
It turns out that Westlife devotees found that the character’s singing voice sounded a lot like Markus Feehily. And we have to say – they’re kind of onto something.
The character teased that he’s been “part of a machine” – possibly a reference to being a member of Westlife, if not a comment on the pop industry in general – as well as using the term “control, alt, delete”, which just happens to be the name of a Doc Martin episode he appeared in.
Robobunny later told the judges that he’s no stranger to “making a splash”. While this initially made us think of swimming, it could be Mark’s way of alluding to the fact he supported Wet, Wet, Wet after going solo in the 2010s.
Then, before his second performance, Robobunny was seen walking past headwear worn by The Village People, whose signature hit Go West could easily be a reference to his band’s name.
After each of the contestants were tasked with performing a song that gave away a clue to their identity, Robobunny sang BTS’ Dynamite, which just happens to be the name of a 2019 track by Westlife.
Doughnuts
Doughnuts has been a tough one to crack, but one thing he’s made clear from the off is the fact he’s a sportsman, most likely a footballer.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been torn between a few different names, but a few unmistakeable clues have helped us narrow it down.
One thing that stood out to a lot of Masked Singer viewers – not to mention the panel – was a moment when he was seen eating crisps, which led Jonathan Ross to guess he might be Gary Lineker.
However, others pointed out that Michael Owen was also involved in Walkers crisps advertising back in the day, and this theory has only been given more and more backing in recent weeks.
The fact he appeared to reference both Stoke and Liverpool during his week two appearance fuelled the Michael Owen theory even further – not to mention the fact he mentioned Argentina, a country where the footballer scored an iconic goal back in 1998.
Michael Owen is actually no stranger to singing, either. Back in 2014, he joined forces with many other footballers to record a Sport Relief cover of Take That’s Greatest Day in 2014.
Panda
All hail Masked Singer Twitter sleuths is all we can say. We were totally drawing a blank after Panda’s first performance, but fans online wasted no time in nailing down the true identity of the adorable character.
Since her very first appearance on The Masked Singer, many have been convinced that the panda is Natalie Imbruglia.
First of all, the VT could well have made reference to Natalie’s album Left Of The Middle when Panda was seen in a tent that was… well… left of the middle. Panda also claimed this isn’t the first time she’s been “animated”, and Natalie lent her voice to the TV movie Legend Of The Lost Tribe, playing a koala.
Elsewhere in her first VT, Panda referenced a “talent show”, and the Australian star was previously a judge on The X Factor in her home territory.
During her second VT, Panda was seen toasting marshmallows with the initials “TWDFL” emblazoned on them, while Natalie appeared in a production of Things We Do For Love.
Taking a look at Panda’s scout badges also seems to reference a number of Natalie’s songs and albums, including Firebird and Build It Better, both of which were only released in 2021.
Then came Panda’s cover of One Direction’s Story Of My Life when each of the Masked Singers performed a track that gave away a clue to their identity.
Not only was Natalie a guest judge on X Factor during Liam Payne’s initial audition, the band’s first ever group performance at Judges’ Houses was a cover of her song Torn.
Traffic Cone
We were so charmed by Traffic Cone’s first performance that we didn’t even have time to make any early predictions. But we have to say, we think one of the panellists might have already guessed it.
And while we may have initially suspected former footballer Chris Kamara was underneath that enormous cone costume, we’ve since been taken in by Jonathan Ross’ theory pointing to none other than The Chase host Bradley Walsh.
Not only did Traffic Cone outright make a reference to “chasing” him in one VT, he’s also mentioned getting “smashed” at Wimbledon, where Brad played football in his youth.
Traffic Cone previously teased that his outfit was similar to a shape “close to my heart”, with Brad currently hosting Blankety Blank, where contestants play as either a circle or a triangle.
And as Jonathan himself pointed out from the panel, Traffic Cone’s decision to perform Take That’s Back For Good could also be a reference to the Blankety Blank revival.
Still, we also wouldn’t rule out Aled Jones, who fans on Twitter have been suggesting based solely on Traffic Cone’s voice.
Quite how Chris, Brad or Aled made their money “taking their top off” remains to be seen, though...
Mushroom
From the off, Mushroom has proved to be a bit of a tricky one, introducing herself with a thick Northern accent, which immediately gave way to an Irish lilt when she started singing.
Clearly, the celeb underneath the mask is a bit of a chameleon, which the character teased when they said: “As a mushroom, I’m quite mellow and carefree. But I have been known to sprout in a more serious part of the forest, from time to time.”
However, while we’ve previously guessed everyone from Jane Horrocks to Jane McDonald, we’re now putting our money on Charlotte Church.
Charlotte gave birth to a son in 2020, which could be why Mushroom has repeatedly mentioned “new life”, while the chattering teeth seen in a previous VT hint at her past career as a chat show host.
There are other clues to support this theory, too. While fans initially thought a shot of a bush full of “W”s was a nod to a location, we think it might actually refer to former president George W Bush, whose inauguration ceremony featured a performance from Charlotte.
A shot of a gavel hints at her past TV judging roles, while her cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy could be a wink towards her own hit single Crazy Chick (she actually covered Crazy with Nelly Furtado on her Channel 4 talk show, too).
Firework
From the off, Firework was one of the toughest of the new Masked Singer characters to work out – and she’s still the biggest question mark as far as we’re concerned.
Her singing voice made us think of Pixie Lott or Tulisa, but as more clues came in we started to change our minds.
A pair of ice skates seen in her clue package and a comment about “lighting up the street with a different kind of flash” put us in mind of Hayley Tamaddon, who has appeared on Coronation Street and won Dancing On Ice.
Hayley is a musical theatre star – appearing in the likes of Chicago and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – so we know she can sing.
More recently, Firework appeared to allude to EastEnders and used the term “hardman”, while her subsequent cover of Kylie Minogue’s Kids got the wheels turning once again.
Putting those three clues together, could it be former Love Island winner Dani Dyer under that explosive ensemble?
Still, concrete clues for Firework are still few and far between, so we’ll be keeping an eye out when she’s next on our screens.
Rockhopper
At first, Rockhopper left viewers stumped with her cryptic clues during her week one VT. But when she took to the stage for a second time, we realised we recognised her voice.
And if it’s who we think it is under that penguin mask, it’s someone who’s no stranger to The Masked Singer.
During her second performance, we began wondering whether it might be Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams’ distinctive voice we could hear coming from under Rockhopper’s mask.
There are a few clues to support this, too. Those theatrical circus videos could be alluding to her appearance during the Super Bowl Half-Time Show, and that mention of her ability to “jump” might be a clue to her infamous arrival on stage back in 2013.
Similarly, the circus could be a joke about her namesake Michelle Williams, who starred in the musical The Greatest Showman.
Rockhopper previously left us puzzled when she claimed she “made headlines by being the first”, but Michelle was the first member of Destiny’s Child to release solo music in 2002 with her album Heart To Yours.
You may also have clocked the Roman numerals on the back of Rockhopper’s jacket, which correspond to the same year Michelle performed alongside Beyoncé at the Super Bowl.
Since then, Rockhopper turned over three tarot cards featuring famous Williams (an obvious nod to her surname), and later covered Stevie Nicks’ Edge Of Seventeen, which Destiny’s Child sampled on their hit Bootylicious.
Michelle actually competed on the first series of The Masked Singer US under the guise of Butterfly.
The Masked Singer airs Saturdays at 7pm on ITV.