Football pundit and presenter Chris Kamara was the first character to be unmasked on the new series of ITV1’s reality singing contest The Masked Singer on Sunday.
Six masked celebrities – Knitting, Jellyfish, Otter, Ghost, Cat and Mouse, and Phoenix – featured in the new episode, but Kamara’s Ghost was the first to be unmasked.
It comes after Kamara, who recently spoke out about his difficulties with the speech disorder apraxia, was made an MBE for services to football, anti-racism and charity in the New Year’s Honours list.
❤️ Our first singer has been UNMASKED!!! ❤️Huge Congratulations to The Most Excellent #Ghost 👻 #MaskedSignerUK pic.twitter.com/gN9Y92WTWU
— #MaskedSingerUK (@MaskedSingerUK) January 1, 2023
He said he kept his role in the show a secret to surprise his family, adding: “I can’t wait to see their reactions.
“My grandkids, we’ll sit around together and they’ll have no idea. They love this show.
“They just sing ‘take it off’ and grandad’s going to turn around.”
Asked whether he has ever watched the show before, the 65-year-old said: “Yes it’s a fan favourite in our house.
“My grandkids love the characters and we love to play along.
“I can’t say I’m particularly good with my guesses though.”
Reflecting on his mask and character, he added: “I loved it.
“It was simple but that’s what I really liked about it.
“It was hard to sing in though.
“I never realised how hard that would be. It’s very claustrophobic.”
Next Saturday, the remaining characters – Fawn, Jacket Potato, Piece of Cake, Pigeon, Rhino and Rubbish – will be taking to the stage to sing in disguise and try to stump the panel and viewers.